f 


f  V 


«v  ^ 


-• 


* 


OMEGA: 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  WORLD 


BY 


CAMILLE    FLAMMARION 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 

JEAN    PAUL  LAURENS,  SAUNIER,  MEAULLE,  VOGEL,   ROCHEGROSSE,    GERADIN, 
CHOVIN,  TOUSSAINT,  GUILLONNET,  SCHWABE,  AND  OTHERS 


NEW  YORK  : 
THE  COSMOPOLITAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    1894, 

BY 
J.   B.   WALKER 


FT 


OMEGA: 

THE     LAST     DAYS     OF    THE    WORLD. 


CHAPTER    I. 

magnificent  marble  bridge  which  unites  the  Rue 
de  Rennes  with  the  Rue  de  Louvre,  and  which,  lined 
with  the  statues  of  celebrated  scientists  and  philosophers, 
emphasizes  the  monumental  avenue  leading  to  the  new 
portico  of  the  Institute,  was  absolutely  black  with  people. 
A  heaving  crowd  surged,  rather  than  walked,  along  the 


8  OMEGA. 

quays,  flowing  out  from  every  street  and  pressing  forward 
toward  the  portico,  long  before  invaded  by  a  tumultuous 
throng.  Never,  in  that  barbarous  age  preceding  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  of  Europe,  when  might  was 
greater  than  right,  when  military  despotism  ruled  the 
world  and  foolish  humanity  quivered  in  the  relentless 
grasp  of  war — never  before  in  the  stormy  period  of  a 
great  revolution,  or  in  those  feverish  days  which  accom- 
panied a  declaration  of  war,  had  the  approaches  of  the 
house  of  the  people's  representatives,  or  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  presented  such  a  spectacle.  It  was  no  longer 
the  case  of  a  band  of  fanatics  rallied  about  a  flag,  marching 
to  some  conquest  of  the  sword,  and  followed  by  a  throng 
of  the  curious  and  the  idle,  eager  to  see  what  would  hap- 
pen; but  of  the  entire  population,  anxious,  agitated,  terri- 
fied, composed  of  every  class  of  society  without  distinction, 
hanging  upon  the  decision  of  an  oracle,  waiting  feverishly 
the  result  of  the  calculations  which  a  celebrated  astrono- 
mer was  to  announce  that  very  Monday,  at  three  o'clock, 
in  the  session  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  Amid  the  flux 
of  politics  and  society  the  Institute  survived,  maintaining 
still  in  Europe  its  supremacy  in  science,  literature  and  art. 
The  center  of  civilization,  however,  had  moved  westward, 
and  the  focus  of  progress  shone  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Michigan,  in  North  America. 

This  new  palace  of  the   Institute,  with   its  lofty  domes 
and  terraces,  had  been  erected  upon  the  ruins  remaining 


O ME G  A  . 


after  the  great  social  revolution  of  the  international  an- 
archists who,  in  1950,  had  blown  up  the  greater  portion 
of  the  metropolis  as  from  the  vent  of  a  crater. 

On  the  Sunday  even- 
ing before,  one  might 
have  seen  from  the  car 
of  a  balloon  all  Paris 
abroad  upon  the  boule- 
vards and  public  squares, 
circulating  slowly  and 
as  if  in  despair,  without 
interest  in  anything. 
The  gay  aerial  ships  no 
longer  cleaved  the  air ; 
aeroplanes  and  aviators 
had  all  ceased  to  circu- 
late. The  aerial  stations 
upon  the  summits  of 
the  towers  and  build- 
ings were  empty  and  de- 
serted. The  course  of 
human  life  seemed  ar- 
rested, and  anxiety  was 
depicted  upon  every  face. 
Strangers  addressed  each 
other  without  hesitation ; 

THK  STREETS   OF   PARIS   BY   NIGHT.  Slid   t>llt  OUC  qUCStlOn   fell 


10  OMEGA. 

from  pale  and  trembling  lips:  "Is  it  then  true?"  The 
most  deadly  pestilence  would  have  carried  far  less  terror 
to  the  heart  than  the  astronomical  prediction  on  every 
tongue  ;  it  would  have  made  fewer  victims,  for  already, 
from  some  unknown  cause,  the  death-rate  was  increasing. 
At  every  instant  one  felt  the  electric  shock  of  a  terrible 
fear. 

A  few,  less  dismayed,  wished  to  appear  more  confident, 
and  sounded  now  and  then  a  note  of  doubt,  even  of  hope, 
as  :  "  It  may  prove  a  mistake  ;  "  or,  u  It  will  pass  on  one 
side  ;  "  or,  again  :  "  It  will  amount  to  nothing ;  we  shall 
get  off  with  a  fright,"  and  other  like  assurances. 

But  expectation  and  uncertainty  are  often  more  terrible 
than  the  catastrophe  itself.  A  brutal  blow  knocks  us 
down  once  for  all,  prostrating  us  more  or  less  completely. 
We  come  to  our  senses,  we  make  the  best  of  it,  we  recover, 
and  take  up  life  again.  But  this  was  the  unknown,  the 
expectation  of  something  inevitable  but  mysterious,  terri- 
ble, coming  from  without  the  range  of  experience.  One 
was  to  die,  without  doubt,  but  how  ?  By  the  sudden  shock 
of  collision,  crushed  to  death  ?  By  fire,  the  conflagration 
of  a  world  ?  By  suffocation,  the  poisoning  of  the  atmos- 
phere ?  What  torture  awaited  humanity  ?  Apprehension 
was  perhaps  more  frightful  than  the  reality  itself.  The 
mind  cannot  suffer  beyond  a  certain  limit.  To  suffer  by 
inches,  to  ask  every  evening  what  the  morning  may  bring, 
is  to  surfer  a  thousand  deaths.  Terror,  that  terror  which 


OMEGA  . 


ii 


congeals  the  blood  in  the  veins,  which  annihilates  the  cour- 
age, haunted  the  shuddering  soul  like  an  invisible  spectre. 

For  more  than  a 
month  the  business 
of  the  world  had 
been  suspended ;  a 
fortnight  before  the 
committee  of  ad- 
ministrators (for- 
merly the  chamber 
and  senate)  had 
adjourned,  every 
other  question  hav- 
ing sunk  into  in- 
significance. For  a 
week  the  exchanges 
of  Paris,  London, 
New  York  and  Pek- 
in,  had  closed  their 
doors.  What  was 
the  use  of  occupy- 
ing oneself  with 
business  affairs, 
with  questions  of 
internal  or  foreign 
policy,  of  revenue 
or  of  reform,  if  the 

THE  OBSERVATORY  ON  GAURISANKAR. 


12  OMEGA. 

end  of  the  world  was  at  hand  ?  Politics,  indeed !  Did 
one  even  remember  to  have  ever  taken  any  interest  in 
them  ?  The  courts  themselves  had  no  cases ;  one  does 
not  murder  when  one  expects  the  end  of  the  world. 
Humanity  no  longer  attached  importance  to  anything ; 
its  heart  beat  furiously,  as  if  about  to  stop  forever. 
Every  face  was  emaciated,  every  countenance  discom- 
posed, and  haggard  with  sleeplessness.  Feminine  coquetry 
alone  held  out,  but  in  a  superficial,  hesitating,  furtive 
manner,  without  thought  of  the  morrow. 

The  situation  was  indeed  serious,  almost  desperate,  even 
in  the  eyes  of  the  most  stoical.  Never,  in  the  whole 
course  of  history  had  the  race  of  Adam  found  itself  face 
to  face  with  such  a  peril.  The  portents  of  the  sky  con- 
fronted it  unceasingly  with  a  question  of  life  and  death. 

But,  let  us  go  back  to  the  beginning. 

Three  months  before  the  day  of  which  we  speak,  the 
director  of  the  observatory  of  Mount  Gaurisankar  had  sent 
the  following  telephonic  message  to  the  principal  observa- 
tories of  the  globe,  and  especially  to  that  of  Paris  :  * 

"A  telescopic  comet  discovered  tonight,  in  290°,  15' 
right  ascension,  and  21°,  54'  south  declination.  Slight 
diurnal  motion.  Is  of  greenish  hue." 

Not  a  month  passed  without  the  discovery  of  telescopic 

*  For  about  300  years  the  observatory  of  Paris  had  ceased  to  be  an  observing  sta- 
tion, and  had  been  perpetuated  only  as  the  central  administrative  bureau  of  French 
astronomy.  Astronomical  observations  were  made  under  far  more  satisfactory  con- 
ditions upon  mountain  summits  in  a  pure  atmosphere,  free  from  disturbing  influences. 
Observers  were  in  direct  and  constant  communication  by  telephone  with  the  central 
office,  whose  instruments  were  used  only  to  verify  certain  discoveries  or  to  satisfy  the 
curiosity  of  savants  detained  in  Paris  by  their  sedentary  occupation. 


OMEGA.  13 

comets,  and  their  announcement  to  the  various  observa- 
tories, especially  since  the  installation  of  intrepid  astrono- 
mers in  Asia  on  the  lofty  peaks  of  Gaurisankar,  Dapsang 
and  Kanchinjinga ;  in  South  America,  on  Aconcagua, 
Illampon  and  Chimborazo,  as  also .  in  Africa  on  Kiliman- 
jaro, and  in  Kurope  on  Hlburz  and  Mont  Blanc.  This 
announcement,  therefore,  had  not  excited  more  comment 
among  astronomers  than  any  other  of  a  like  nature  which 
they  were  constantly  receiving.  A  large  number  of  ob- 
servers had  sought  the  comet  in  the  position  indicated,  and 
had  carefully  followed  its  motion.  Their  observations 
had  been  published  in  the  Neuastronomischenachrichten, 
and  a  German  mathematician  had  calculated  a  provisional 
orbit  and  ephemeris. 

Scarcely  had  this  orbit  and  ephemeris  been  published, 
when  a  Japanese  scientist  made  a  very  remarkable  sugges- 
tion. According  to  these  calculations,  the  comet  was  ap- 
proaching the  sun  from  infinite  space  in  a  plane  but 
slightly  inclined  to  that  of  the  ecliptic,  an  extremely  rare 
occurrence,  and,  moreover,  would  traverse  the  orbit  of 
Saturn.  "  It  \vould  be  exceedingly  interesting,"  he  re- 
marked, u  to  multiply  observations  and  revise  the  calcula- 
tion of  the  orbit,  with  a  view  to  determining  whether  the 
comet  will  come  in  collision  with  the  rings  of  Saturn  ;  for 
this  planet  will  be  exactly  at  that  point  of  its  path  inter- 
sected by  the  orbit  of  the  comet,  on  the  day  of  the  latter 's 
arrival." 


OMEGA. 


A  young 
Institute,  a 
the  director- 
observatory, 
on  this  sug- 
installed  her- 
ephone  office 
capture  on  the 


laureate  of  the 
candidate  for 
ship  for  the 
acting  at  once 
gestion,  had 
self  at  the  tel- 
iii  order  to 
wing  every 


THE  YOUNG   LAUREATE. 

message.  In  less  than  ten  days  she  had  intercepted 
more  than  one  hundred  despatches,  and,  without  losing 
an  instant,  had  devoted  three  nights  and  days  to  a 
revision  of  the  orbit  as  based  on  this  entire  series  of 
observations.  The  result  proved  that  the  German  com- 
puter had  committed  an  error  in  determining  the  peri- 
helion distance  and  that  the  inference  drawn  by  the 
Japanese  astronomer  was  inexact  in  so  far  as  the  date 
of  the  comet's  passage  through  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic 
was  concerned,  this  date  being  five  or  six  days  earlier 
than  that  first  announced ;  but  the  interest  in  the 
problem  increased,  for  the  minimum  distance  of  the 
comet  from  the  earth  seemed  now  less  than  the  Japanese 
calculator  had  thought  possible.  Setting  aside  for  the 
moment,  the  question  of  a  collision,  it  was  hoped  that  the 
enormous  perturbation  which  would  result  from  the  at- 
traction of  the  earth  and  moon  would  afford  a  new  method 
of  determining  with  exhaustive  precision  the  mass  of  both 
these  bodies,  and  perhaps  even  throw  important  light  upon 


OMEGA.  15 

the  density  of  the  earth's  interior.  It  was,  indeed,  estab- 
lished that  the  celestial  visitor  was  moving  in  a  plane 
nearly  coincident  with  that  of  the  ecliptic,  and  would  pass 
near  the  system  of  Saturn,  whose  attraction  would  prob- 
ably modify  to  a  sensible  degree  the  primitive  parabolic 
orbit,  bringing  it  nearer  to  the  belated  planet.  But  the 
comet,  after  traversing  the  orbits  of  Jupiter  and  of  Mars, 
was  then  to  enter  exactly  that  described  annually  by  the 
earth  about  the  sun.  The  interest  of  astronomers  was  not 
on  this  account  any  the  less  keen,  and  the  young  compu- 
ter insisted  more  forcibly  than  ever  upon  the  importance 
of  numerous  and  exact  observations. 

It  was  at  the  observatory  of  Gaurisankar  especially  that 
.  the  study  of  the  comet's  elements  was  prosecuted.  On 
this  highest  elevation  of  the  globe,  at  an  altitude  of  8000 
meters,  among  eternal  snows  which,  by  newly  discovered 
processes  of  electro-chemistry,  were  kept  at  a  distance  of 
several  kilometers  from  the  station,  towering  almost  always 
many  hundred  meters  above  the  highest  clouds,  in  a  pure 
and  rarified  atmosphere,  the  visual  power  of  both  the  eye 
and  the  telescope  was  increased  a  hundred  fold.  The  cra- 
ters of  the  moon,  the  satellites  of  Jupiter,  and  the  phases 
of  Venus  could  be  readily  distinguished  by  the  naked  eye. 
For  nine  or  ten  generations  several  families  of  astronomers 
had  lived  upon  this  Asiatic  summit,  and  had  gradually  be- 
come accustomed  to  its  rare  atmosphere.  The  first  comers 
had  succumbed  ;  but  science  and  industry  had  succeeded 


16  OMEGA. 

in  modifying  the  rigors  of  the  temperature  by  the  storage 
of  solar  heat,  and  acclimatization  slowly  took  place  ;  as  in 
former  times,  at  Quito  and  Bogota,  where,  in  the  eigh- 
teenth and  nineteenth  centuries,  a  contented  population 
lived  in  plenty,  and  young  women  might  be  seen  dancing 
all  night  long  without  fatigue  ;  whereas  on  Mont  Blanc  in 
Europe,  at  the  same  elevation,  a  few  steps  only  were  at- 
tended with  painful  respiration.  By  degrees  a  small  col- 
ony was  installed  upon  the  slopes  of  the  Himalayas,  and, 
through  their  researches  and  discoveries,  the  observatory 
had  acquired  the  reputation  of  being  the  first  in  the  world. 
Its  principal  instrument  was  the  celebrated  equatorial 
of  one  hundred  meters  focal  length,  by  whose  aid  the 
hieroglyphic  signals,  addressed  in  vain  for  several  thou- 
sand years  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  planet  Mars  to  the 
earth,  had  finally  been  deciphered. 

While  the  astronomers  of  Europe  were  discussing  the 
orbit  of  the  new  comet  and  establishing  the  precision  of 
the  computations  which  foretold  its  convergence  upon  the 
earth  and  the  collision  of  the  two  bodies  in  space,  a  new 
phonographic  message  was  sent  out  from  the  Himalayan 
observatory  : 

"  The  comet  will  soon  become  visible  to  the  naked  eye. 
Still  of  greenish  hue.  Its  course  is  earthward." 

The  complete  agreement  between  the  astronomical  data, 
whether  from  European,  American,  or  Asiatic  sources, 
could  leave  no  further  doubt  of  their  exactness.  The  daily 


OMEGA.  17 

papers  sowed  broadcast  this  alarming  news,  embellished 
with  sinister  comments  and  numberless  interviews  in 
which  the  most  astonishing  statements  were  attributed  to 
scientists.  Their  only  concern  was  to  outdo  the  ascer- 
tained facts,  and  to  exaggerate  their  bearing  by  more  or 
less  fanciful  additions.  As  for  that  matter,  the  journals 
of  the  world  had  long  since  become  purely  business  enter- 
prises. The  sole  preoccupation  of  each  was  to  sell  every 
day  the  greatest  possible  number  of  copies.  They  in- 
vented false  news,  travestied  the  truth,  dishonored  men 
and  women,  spread  scandal,  lied  without  shame,  explained 
the  devices  of  thieves  and  murderers,  published  the  for- 
mulae of  recently  invented  explosives,  imperilled  their 
own  readers  and  betrayed  every  class  of  society,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  exciting  to  the  highest  pitch  the  curi- 
osity of  the  public  and  of  "selling  copies." 

Everything  had  become  a  pure  matter  of  business.  For 
science,  art,  literature,  philosophy,  study  and  research,  the 
press  cared  nothing.  An  acrobat,  a  runner  or  a  jockey,  an 
air-ship  or  water-velocipede,  attained  more  celebrity  in  a 
day  than  the  most  eminent  scientist,  or  the  most  ingenious 
inventor — for  these  two  classes  made  no  return  to  the 
stockholders.  Everything  was  adroitly  decked  out  with 
the  rhetoric  of  patriotism,  a  sentiment  which  still  ex- 
ercised some  empire  over  the  minds  of  men.  In  short, 
from  every  point  of  view,  the  pecuniary  interests  of  the 
publication  dominated  all  considerations  of  public  interest 


i8 


OMEGA  . 


and  general  progress.  Of  all  this  the  public  had  been  for 
a  long  time  the  dupe  ;  but,  at  the  time  of  which  we  are 
now  speaking,  it  had  surrendered  to  the  situation,  so  that 
there  was  no  longer  any  newspaper,  properly  speaking, 
but  only  sheets  of  notices  and  advertisements  of  a  com- 
mercial nature.  Neither  the  first  announcement  of  the 
press,  that  a  comet  was  approaching  with  a  high  velocity 
and  would  collide  writh  the  earth  at  a  date  already  deter- 
mined ;  nor  the  second,  that  the  wandering  star  might 
bring  about  a  general  catastrophe  by  rendering  the  atmos- 
phere irrespirable,  had  produced  the  slightest  impression  ; 
this  two-fold  prophecy,  if  noticed  at  all  by  the  heedless 
reader,  had  been  received  with  profound  incredulity,  at- 
tracting no  more  attention  than  the  simultaneous  an- 
nouncement of  the  discovery  of 
the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth 
in  the  cellars  of  the  Palais  des 
Fees  on  Montmartre  (erected  on 
the  ruins  of  the  cathedral  of  the 
Sacre-Cceur). 

Moreover,  astronomers  them- 
selves had  not,  at  first,  evinced 
any  anxiety  about  the  collision, 
so  far  as  it  affected  the  fate  of 
humanity,  and  the  astronomical 
journals  (which  alone  retained 
any  semblance  of  authority)  had 


A  SHOWER  OF  STARS. 


OMEGA.  i9 

as  yet  referred  to  the  subject  simply  as  a  computation 
to  be  verified.  Scientists  had  treated  the  problem  as  one 
of  pure  mathematics,  regarding  it  only  as  an  interesting 
case  of  celestial  mechanics.  In  the  interviews  to  which 
they  had  been  subjected  they  had  contented  themselves 
with  saying  that  a  collision  was  possible,  even  probable, 
but  of  no  interest  to  the  public. 

Meanwhile,  a  new  message  was  received  by  telephone, 
this  time  from  Mount  Hamilton  in  California,  which  pro- 
duced a  sensation  among  the  chemists  and  physiologists  : 

"  Spectroscopic  observation  establishes  the  fact  that  the 
comet  is  a  body  of  considerable  density,  composed  of  sev- 
eral gases  the  chief  of  which  is  carbonic-oxide." 

Matters  were  becoming  serious.  That  a  collision  with 
the  earth  would  occur  was  certain.  If  astronomers  were 
not  especially  preoccupied  by  this  fact,  accustomed  as  they 
were  for  centuries  to  consider  these  celestial  conjunctions 
as  harmless :  if  the  most  celebrated  even  of  their  number 
had,  at  last,  coldly  shown  the  door  to  the  many  beardless 
reporters  constantly  importuning  them,  declaring  that  this 
prediction  was  of  no  interest  to  the  people  at  large  and 
was  a  strictly  astronomical  question  which  did  not  concern 
them,  physicians,  on  the  other  hand,  had  begun  to  agitate 
the  subject  and  to  discuss  gravely,  among  each  other,  the 
possibilities  of  asphyxia,  or  poisoning.  Less  indifferent 
to  public  opinion,  so  far  from  turning  a  cold  shoulder  to 
the  journalists,  they  had  welcomed  them,  and  in  a  few 


20  OMEGA. 

days  the  subject  suddenly  entered  upon  a  new  phase. 
From  the  domain  of  astronomy  it  had  passed  into  that  of 
philosophy,  and  the  name  of  every  well-known  or  famous 
physician  appeared  in  large  letters  on  the  title-pages  of  the 
daily  papers ;  their  portraits  were  reproduced  in  the  illus- 
trated journals,  and  the  formula,  "  Interviews  on  the 
Comet,"  was  to  be  seen  on  every  hand.  Already,  even, 
the  variety  and  diversity  of  conflicting  opinions  had 
created  hostile  camps,  which  hurled  at  each  other  the 
most  grotesque  abuse,  and  asserted  that  all  physicians 
were  "charlatans  eager  for  notoriety." 

In  the  mean  time  the  director  of  the  Paris  observatory 
having  at  heart  the  interests  of  science,  was  profoundly 
disturbed  by  an  uproar  which  had  more  than  once,  on 
former  occasions,  singularly  misrepresented  astronomical 
facts.  He  was  a  venerable  old  man  who  had  grown  gray 
in  the  study  of  the  great  problems  of  the  constitution  of 
the  universe.  His  utterances  were  respected  by  all,  and 
he  had  decided  to  make  a  statement  to  the  press  in  which 
he  declared  that  all  conjectures,  made  prior  to  the  tech- 
nical discussion  authorized  by  the  Institute,  were  prema- 
ture. 

It  has  been  remarked,  we  believe,  that  the  Paris  observa- 
tory, always  in  the  van  of  every  scientific  movement,  by 
virtue  of  the  labors  of  its  members,  and  more  especially, 
of  improved  methods  of  observation,  had  become,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  sanctuary  of  theoretical  research,  and  on  the 


OMEGA 


2T 


tiy   yuan  Paul  Lauren*. 


22  OMEGA. 

other  the  central  telephone  bureau  for  stations  established 
at  a  distance  from  the  great  cities  on  elevations  favored 
by  a  perfectly  transparent  atmosphere. 

It  was  an  asylum  of  peace,  where  perfect  concord 
reigned,  where  astronomers  disinterestedly  consecrated 
their  whole  lives  to  the  advancement  of  science,  and  mu- 
tually encouraged  each  other,  without  experiencing  any 
of  the  pangs  of  envy,  each  forgetting  his  own  merit  to 
proclaim  that  of  his  colleagues.  The  director  set  the 
example,  and  when  he  spoke  it  was  in  the  name  of  all. 

He  published  a  technical  discussion,  and  he  was  listened 
to — for  a  moment.  For  the  question  appeared  to  be  no 
longer  one  of  astronomy.  No  one  denied  or  disputed  the 
meeting  of  the  comet  with  the  earth.  That  was  a  fact 
which  mathematics  had  rendered  certain.  The  absorb- 
ing question  now  was  the  chemical  constitution  of  the 
comet.  If  the  earth,  in  its  passage  through  it,  was  to  lose 
the  oxygen  of  its  atmosphere,  death  by  asphyxia  was  in- 
evitable ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nitrogen  was  to  com- 
bine with  the  cometary  gases,  death  was  still  certain ;  but 
death  preceded  by  an  ungovernable  exhilaration,  a  sort  of 
universal  intoxication,  a  wild  delirium  of  the  senses  being 
the  necessary  result  of  the  extraction  of  nitrogen  from  the 
respirable  air  and  the  proportionate  increase  of  oxygen. 

The  spectroscope  indicated  especially  the  presence  of 
carbonic-oxide  in  the  chemical  constitution  of  the  comet. 
The  chief  point  under  discussion  in  the  scientific  reviews 


OMEGA.  23 

was  whether  the  mixture  of  this  noxious  gas  with  the 
atmosphere  would  poison  the  entire  population  of  the 
globe,  human  and  animal,  as  the  president  of  the  academy 
of  medicine  affirmed  would  be  the  case. 

Carbonic-oxide !  Nothing  else  was  talked  of.  The 
spectroscope  could  not  be  in  error.  Its  methods  were  too 
sure,  its  processes  too  precise.  Hverybody  knew  that  the 
smallest  admixture  of  this  gas  with  the  air  we  breathe 
meant  a  speedy  death.  Now,  a  later  despatch  from  the 
observatory  of  Gaurisankar  had  more  than  confirmed  that 
received  from  Mount  Hamilton.  This  despatch  read : 

"  The  earth  will  be  completely  submerged  in  the  nu- 
cleus of  the  comet,  whose  diameter  is  already  thirty  times 
that  of  the  globe  and  is  daily  increasing." 

Thirty  times  the  diameter  of  the  earth  !  Kven  then, 
though  the  comet  should  pass  between  the  earth  and  the 
moon,  it  would  touch  them  both,  since  a  bridge  of  thirty 
earths  would  span  the  distance  between  our  world  and  the 
moon. 

Then,  too,  during  the  three  months  whose  history  we 
have  recapitulated,  the  comet  had  emerged  from  regions 
accessible  only  to  the  telescope  and  had  become  visible  to 
the  naked  eye.  In  full  view  of  the  earth  it  hovered  now 
like  a  threat  from  heaven  among  the  army  of  stars.  Ter- 
ror itself,  advancing  slowly  but  inexorably,  was  suspended 
like  a  mighty  sword  above  every  head.  A  last  effort  was 
made,  not  indeed  to  turn  the  comet  from  its  path — an  idea 


24  OMEGA. 

conceived  by  that  class  of  visionaries  who  recoil  before 
nothing,  and  who  had  even  imagined  that  an  electric 
storm  of  vast  magnitude  might  be  produced  by  batteries 
suitably  distributed  over  that  face  of  the  globe  which  was 
to  receive  the  shock — but  to  examine  once  more  the  great 
problem  under  every  aspect,  and  perhaps  to  reassure  the 
public  mind  and  rekindle  hope  by  the  discovery  of  some 
error  in  the  conclusions  which  had  been  drawn,  some 
forgotten  fact  in  the  observations  or  computations.  This 
collision  might  not  after  all  prove  so  fatal  as  the  pes- 
simists had  foretold.  A  general  presentation  of  the 
case  from  every  point  of  view  was  announced  for  this 
very  Monday  at  the  Institute,  just  four  days  before  the 
prophesied  moment  of  collision,  which  would  take  place 
on  Friday,  July  i3th.  The  most  celebrated  astronomer 
of  France,  at  that  time  director  of  the  Paris  observatory  ; 
the  president  of  the  academy  of  medicine,  an  eminent 
physiologist  and  chemist ;  the  president  of  the  astronom- 
ical society,  a  skillful  mathematician,  and  other  orators 
also,  among  them  a  woman  distinguished  for  her  discov- 
eries in  the  physical  sciences,  were  among  the  speakers 
announced.  The  last  word  had  not  yet  been  spoken.  L,et 
us  enter  the  venerable  dome  and  listen  to  the  discussion. 
But  before  doing  so,  let  us  ourselves  consider  this 
famous  comet  which  for  the  time  being  absorbed  every 
thought. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE  stranger  had  emerged  slowly  from  the  depths  of 
space.  Instead  of  appearing  suddenly,  as  more  than  once 
the  great  comets  have  been  observed  to  do, — either  be- 
cause coming  into  view  immediately  after  their  perihelion 
passage,  or  after  a  long  ser- 
ies of  storms  or  moonlight 
nights  has  prevented  the 
search  of  the  sky  by  the 
comet-seekers  —  this  float- 
ing star-mist  had  at  first 
remained  in  regions  visible 
only  to  the  telescope,  and 
had  been  watched  only  by 
astronomers.  For  several 
days  after  its  discovery, 
none  but  the  most  power- 
ful equatorials  of  the  ob- 
servatories could  detect  its 
presence.  But  the  well- 
informed  were  not  slow  to 
examine  it  for  themselves. 
Every  modern  house  was 
crowded  with  a  terrace, 


THK   STRKET   TELESCOPES. 


26  OMEGA. 

partly  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  aerial  embarkations. 
Many  of  them  were  provided  with  revolving'  domes.  Few 
well-to-do  families  were  without  a  telescope,  and  no 
home  was  complete  without  a  library,  well  furnished  with 
scientific  books. 

The  comet  had  been  observed  by  everybody,  so  to 
speak,  from  the  instant  it  became  visible  to  instruments 
of  moderate  power.  As  for  the  laboring  classes,  whose 
leisure  moments  were  always  provided  for,  the  telescopes 
set  up  in  the  public  squares  had  been  surrounded  by  im- 
patient crowds  from  the  first  moment  of  visibility,  and 
every  evening  the  receipts  of  these  astronomers  of  the 
open  air  had  been  incredible  and  without  precedent. 
Many  workmen,  too,  had  their  own  instruments,  especially 
in  the  provinces,  and  justice,  as  well  as  truth,  compels  us 
to  acknowledge  that  the  first  discoverer  of  the  comet  (out- 
side of  the  professional  observers)  had  not  been  a  man  of 
the  world,  a  person  of  importance,  or  an  academician,  but 
a  plain  workman  of  the  town  of  Soissons,  who  passed  the 
greater  portion  of  his  nights  under  the  stars,  and  who  had 
succeeded  in  purchasing  out  of  his  laboriously  accumu- 
lated savings  an  excellent  little  telescope  with  which  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  studying  the  wonders  of  the  sky. 
And  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  prior  to  the  twenty-fourth 
century,  nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  had  lived 
without  knowing  where  they  were,  without  even  feeling 
the  curiosity  to  ask,  like  blind  men,  with  no  other  preoc- 


OMEGA. 


cupation  than  the  satisfaction  of  their  appetites ;  but 
within  a  hundred  years  the  human  race  had  begun  to 
observe  and  reason  upon  the  universe  about  them. 

To  understand  the  path  of  the  comet  through  space,  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  examine  carefully  the  accompanying 
chart.  It  represents  the  comet  coming  from  infinite  space 
obliquely  towards  the  earth,  and  afterwards  falling  into 
the  sun  which  does  not  arrest  it  in  its  passage  toward 
perihelion.  No  account  has  been  taken  of  the  perturba- 
tion caused  by  the  earth's  attraction,  whose  effect  would 
be  to  bring  the  comet  nearer  to  the  earth's  orbit.  All  the 
comets  which  gravitate  about  the  sun — and  they  are 
numerous — describe  similar  elongated  orbits, — ellipses, 
one  of  whose  foci  is  occupied  by  the  solar  star.  The 
drawing  on  page  33  gives  an  idea  of  the  intersections  of 
the  cometary  and  planetary  orbits,  and  the  orbit  of  the 


28  OMEGA. 

earth  about  the  sun.  On  studying  these  intersections,  we 
perceive  that  a  collision  is  neither  an  impossible  nor 
an  abnormal  event. 

The  comet  was  now  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  On  the 
night  of  the  new  moon,  the  atmosphere  being  perfectly 
clear,  it  had  been  detected  by  a  few  keen  eyes  without  the 
aid  of  a  glass,  not  far  from  the  zenith  near  the  edge  of  the 
milky  way  to  the  south  of  the  star  Omicron  in  the  con 
stellation  of  Andromeda,  as  a  pale  nebula,  like  a  puff  of 
very  light  smoke,  quite  small,  almost  round,  slightly  elon- 
gated in  a  direction  opposed  to  that  of  the  sun — a  gaseous 
elongation,  outlining  a  rudimentary  tail.  This,  indeed, 
had  been  its  appearance  since  its  first  discovery  by  the 
telescope.  From  its  inoffensive  aspect  no  one  could  have 
suspected  the  tragic  role  which  this  new  star  was  to  play 
in  the  history  of  humanity.  Analysis  alone  indicated  its 
march  toward  the  earth. 

But  the  mysterious  star  approached  rapidly.  The  very 
next  day  the  half  of  those  who  searched  for  it  had  detected 
it,  and  the  following  day  only  the  near-sighted,  with  eye- 
glasses of  insufficient  power,  had  failed  to  make  it  out. 
In  less  than  a  week  every  one  had  seen  it.  In  all  the 
public  squares,  in  every  city,  in  every  village,  groups  were 
to  be  seen  watching  it,  or  showing  it  to  others. 

Day  by  day  it  increased  in  size.  The  telescope  began 
to  distinguish  distinctly  a  luminous  nucleus.  The  excite- 
ment increased  at  the  same  time,  invading  every  mind. 


OMEGA.  29 


THE  COMET  AS  SEEN  AT  PARIS. 


When,  after  the  first  quarter  and  during  the  full  moon, 
it  appeared  to  remain  stationary  and  even  to  lose  some- 
thing of  its  brilliancy,  as  it  had  been  expected  to  grow 
rapidly  larger,  it  was  hoped  that  some  error  had  crept  into 
the  computations,  and  a  period  of  tranquillity  and  relief 
followed.  After  the  full  moon  the  barometer  fell  rapidly. 
A  violent  storm-center,  coming  from  the  Atlantic,  passed 
north  of  the  British  Isles.  For  twelve  days  the  sky  was 
entirely  obscured  over  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe. 

Once  more  the  sun  shone  in  purified  atmosphere,  the 
clouds  dissolved  and  the  blue  sky  reappeared  pure  and  un- 
obscured  ;  it  was  not  without  emotion  that  men  waited  for 
the  setting  of  the  sun — especially  as  several  aerial  expedi- 
tions had  succeeded  in  rising  above  the  cloud-belts,  and 
aeronauts  had  asserted  that  the  comet  was  visibly  larger, 
Telephone  messages  sent  out  from  the  mountains  of  Asia 
and  America  announced  also  its  rapid  approach.  But 


.?<?  OMEGA. 

great  was  the  surprise  when  at  nightfall  every  eye  was 
turned  heavenward  to  seek  the  flaming  star.  It  was  no 
longer  a  comet,  a  classic  comet  such  as  one  had  seen 
before,  but  an  aurora  borealis  of  a  new  kind,  a  gigantic 
celestial  fan,  with  seven  branches,  shooting  into  space 
seven  greenish  streamers,  which  appeared  to  issue  from  a 
point  hidden  below  the  horizon. 

No  one  had  the  slightest  doubt  but  that  this  fantastical 
aurora  borealis  was  the  comet  itself,  a  view  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that  the  former  comet  could  not  be  found  any- 
where among  the  starry  host.  The  apparition  differed, 
it  is  true,  from  all  popularly  known  cometary  forms, 
and  the  radiating  beams  of  the  mysterious  visitor  were, 
of  all  forms,  the  least  expected.  But  these  gaseous 
bodies  are  so  remarkable,  so  capricious,  so  various,  that 
everything  is  possible.  Moreover,  it  was  not  the  first 
time  that  a  comet  had  presented  such  an  aspect.  Astron- 
omy contained  among  its  records  that  of  an  immense 
comet  observed  in  1744,  which  at  that  time  had  been  the 
subject  of  much  discussion,  and  whose  picturesque  delin- 
eation, made  de  visu  by  the  astronomer  Chezeaux,  at 
Lausanne,  had  given  it  a  wide  celebrity.  But  even  if 
nothing  of  this  nature  had  been  seen  before,  the  evidence 
of  one's  eyes  was  indubitable. 

Meanwhile,  discussions  multiplied,  and  a  veritable  as- 
tronomical tournament  was  commenced  in  the  scientific 
reviews  of  the  entire  world — the  only  journals  which  in- 


OMEGA  . 


spired  any  confidence  amid  the  epidemic  of  buying  and 
selling  which  had  for  so  long  a  time  possessed  humanity. 
The  main  question,  now  that  there  was  no  longer  any 
doubt  that  the  star  was  moving  straight  toward  the 
earth,  was  its  position  from  day  to  day,  a  question  de- 
pending upon  its  velocity.  The  young  computer  of  the 
Paris  observatory,  chief  of  the  section  of  comets,  sent 
every  day  a  note  to  the  official  journal  of  the  United 
States  of  Europe. 

A  very  simple  mathematical  relation  exists  between 
the  velocity  of  every  comet  and  its  distance  from  the  sun. 
Knowing  the  former  one  can  at  once  find  the  latter.  In 
fact  the  velocity  of  the  comet  is  simply  the  velocity  of 
a  planet  multiplied  by  the  square  root  of  two.  Now 


32  OMEGA. 

the  velocity  of  a  planet,  whatever  its  distance,  is  deter- 
mined by  Kepler's  third  law,  according  to  which  the 
squares  of  the  times  of  revolution  are  to  each  other  as 
the  cubes  of  the  distances.  Nothing  evidently,  can  be 
more  simple.  Thus,  for  example,  the  magnificent  planet, 
Jupiter,  moves  about  the  sun  with  a  velocity  of  13,000 
meters  per  second.  A  comet  at  this  distance  moves,  there- 
fore, with  the  above-mentioned  velocity,  multiplied  by  the 
square  root  of  two,  that  is  to  say  by  the  number  1.4142. 
This  velocity  is  consequently  18,380  meters  per  second. 

The  planet  Mars  revolves  about  the  sun  at  the  rate 
of  24,000  meters  per  second.  At  this  distance  the 
comet's  velocity  is  34,000  meters  per  second. 

The  mean  velocity  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit  is  29,- 
460  meters  per  second,  a  little  less  in  June,  a  little 
more  in  December.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  earth, 
therefore,  the  velocity  of  the  comet  is  41,660  meters,  in- 
dependently of  the  acceleration  which  the  earth  might 
occasion. 

These  facts  the  laureate  of  the  Institute  called  to  the 
attention  of  the  public  which,  moreover,  already  pos- 
sessed some  general  notions  upon  the  theory  of  celes- 
tial mechanics. 

When  the  threatening  star  arrived  at  a  distance  from 
the  sun  equal  to  that  of  Mars,  the  popular  fear  was 
no  longer  a  vague  apprehension  ;  it  took  definite  form> 
based,  as  it  was,  upon  the  exact  knowledge  of  the 


OMEGA  . 


33 


comet's  rate  of  approach.  Thirty-four  thousand  meters 
per  second  meant  2040  kilometers  per  minute,  or  122,- 
400  kilometers  per  hour ! 

As  the  distance  of  the  orbit  of  Mars  from  that  of  the 
earth  is  only  76,000,000  of  kilometers,  at  the  rate  of 
122,400  kilometers  an  hour,  this  distance  would  be  cov- 
/  ered  in  621  hours,  or  about  twenty-six  days.  But,  as 
the  comet  approached  the  sun,  its  velocity  would  in- 
crease, since  at  the  distance  of  the  earth  its  velocity 
would  be  41,660  meters  per  second.  In  virtue  of  this 
increase  of  speed,  the  distance  between  the  two  orbits 
would  be  traversed  by  a  comet  in  558  hours,  or  in 
twenty-three  days,  six  hours. 


34  OMEGA. 

But  the  earth  at  the  moment  of  meeting  with  the 
comet,  would  not  be  exactly  at  that  point  of  its  orbit 
intersected  by  a  line  from  the  comet  to  the  sun,  be- 
cause the  former  was  not  advancing  directly  toward  the 
latter ;  the  collision,  therefore,  would  not  take  place  for 
nearly  a  week  later,  namely :  at  about  midnight  on  Fri- 
day, the  1 3th  of  July.  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that 
under  such  circinnstances  the  usual  arrangements  for 
the  celebration  of  the  national  fete  of  July  i4th  had 
been  forgotten.  National  fete !  No  one  thought  of  it. 
Was  not  that  date  far  more  likely  to  mark  the  univer- 
sal doom  of  men  and  things  ?  As  to  that,  the  cele- 
bration by  the  French  of  the  anniversary  of  that  fam- 
ous day  had  lasted — with  some  exceptions,  it  is  true — 
for  more  than  five  centuries :  even  among  the  Romans 
anniversaries  had  never  been  observed  for  so  long  a  pe- 
riod, and  it  was  generally  agreed  that  the  izj-th  of  July 
had  outlived  its  usefulness. 

It  was  now  Monday,  the  8th  of  July.  For  five  days 
the  sky  had  been  perfectly  clear,  and  every  night  the 
fan-like  comet  hovered  in  the  sky  depths,  its  head,  or 
nucleus,  distinctly  visible  and  dotted  with  luminous 
points  which  might  well  be  solid  bodies  several  kilo- 
meters in  diameter,  and  which,  according  to  the  calcu- 
lations, would  be  the  first  to  strike  the  earth,  the  tail 
-being  in  a  direction  away  from  the  sun  and  in  the  pres- 
ent instance  behind  and  obliquely  situated  with  refer- 


OMEGA.  35 

ence  to  the  direction  of  motion.  The  new  star  blazed 
in  the  constellation  of  Pisces.  According  to  observa- 
tions taken  on  the  preceding  evening,  July  8th,  its  ex- 
act position  was:  right  ascension,  23!!.,  iom.,  328.;  dec- 
lination north,  7°,  36',  4".  The  tail  lay  entirely  across 
the  constellation  of  Pegasus.  The  comet  rose  at  Qh., 
49in.  and  was  visible  all  night  long. 

During  the  lull  of  which  we  have  spoken,  a  change 
in  public  opinion  had  occurred.  From  a  series  of  retro- 
spective calculations  an  astronomer  had  proved  that  the 
earth  had  already  on  several  occasions  encountered  com- 
ets, and  that  each  time  the  only  result  had  been  a 
harmless  shower  of  shooting  stars.  But  one  of  his  col- 
leagues had  replied  that  the  present  comet  could  not 
in  any  sense  be  compared  to  a  swarm  of  meteors,  that 
it  was  gaseous,  with  a  nucleus  composed  of  solid  bodies 
and  he  had  in  this  connection  recalled  the  observations 
made  upon  a  comet  famous  in  history,  that  of  1811. 

This  comet  of  1811  justified,  in  a  certain  respect,  a 
real  apprehension.  Its  dimensions  were  recalled  to 
mind:  its  length  of  180,000,000  kilometers,  that  is  to 
say,  a  distance  greater  than  that  of  the  earth  from  the 
sun ;  and  the  width  of  its  tail  at  its  extreme  point, 
24,000,000  kilometers.  The  diameter  of  its  nucleus 
measured  1,800,000  kilometers,  forty  thousand  times  that 
of  the  earth,  and  its  nebulous  and  remarkably  regular 
elliptical  head  was  a  spot  brilliant  as  a  star,  having 


36  OMEGA. 

itself  a  diameter  of  no  less  than  200,000  kilometers. 
The  spot  appeared  to  be  of  great  density.  It  was  ob- 
served for  sixteen  months  and  twenty-two  days.  But 
the  most  remarkable  feature  of  this  comet  was  the  im- 
mense development  to  which  it  attained  without  ap- 
proaching very  close  to  the  sun  ;  for  it  did  not  reach 
a  point  nearer  than  150,000,000  kilometers,  and  thus 
remained  more  than  170,000,000  kilometers  from  the 
earth.  As  the  size  of  comets  increases  as  they  near 
the  sun,  if  this  one  had  experienced  to  a  greater  de- 
gree the  solar  action,  its  appearance  would  certainly 
have  been  still  more  wonderful,  and,  doubtless,  terrify- 
ing to  the  observer.  And  as  its  mass  was  far  from 
insignificant,  if  it  had  fallen  directly  into  the  sun,  its 
velocity,  accelerated  to  the  rate  of  five  or  six  hundred 
thousand  meters  per  second  at  the  moment  of  collision, 
might,  by  the  transformation  of  mechanical  energy  into 
thermal  energy,  have  suddenly  increased  the  solar  radia- 
tions to  such  a  degree  as  to  have  utterly  destroyed  in 
a  few  days  every  trace  of  vegetable  and  animal  life 
upon  the  earth. 

A  physicist,  indeed,  had  made  this  curious  remark, 
that  a  comet  of  the  same  size  as  that  of  1811,  or 
greater,  might  thus  bring  about  the  end  of  the  world 
without  actual  contact,  by  a  sort  of  expulsion  of  solar 
light  and  heat,  analogous  to  that  observed  in  the  case 
of  temporary  stars.  The  impact  would,  indeed,  give 


OMEGA.  37 

rise  to  a  quantity  of  heat  six  times  as  great  as  that 
which  would  be  produced  by  the  combustion  of  a  mass 
of  coal  equal  to  the  mass  of  the  comet. 

It  had  been  shown  that  if  such  a  comet  in  its 
flight,  instead  of  falling  into  the  sun,  should  collide 
with  our  planet,  the  end  of  the  world  would  be  by 
fire.  If  it  collided  with  Jupiter  it  would  raise  the 
temperature  of  that  globe  to  such  a  point  as  to  restore 
to  it  its  lost  light,  and  to  make  it  for  a  time  a  sun 
again,  so  that  the  earth  would  be  lighted  by  two  suns, 
Jupiter  becoming  a  sort  of  minor  night-sun,  far  brighter 
than  the  moon,  and  shining  by  its  own  light — of  a 
ruby-red  or  garnet  color,  revolving  about  the  earth  in 
twelve  years.  A  nocturnal  sun !  That  is  to  say,  no 
more  real  night  for  the  earth. 

The  most  classical  astronomical  treatises  had  been 
consulted  ;  chapters  on  comets  written  by  Newton, 
Halley,  Maupertuis,  Lalande,  Laplace,  Arago,  Faye, 
Newcomb,  Holden,  Denning,  Robert  Ball,  and  their 
successors,  had  been  re-read.  The  opinion  of  Laplace 
had  made  the  deepest  impression  and  his  language  had 
been  texttially  cited :  "  The  earth's  axis  and  rotary 
motion  changed ;  the  oceans  abandoning  their  old-time 
beds,  to  rush  toward  the  new  equator ;  the  majority  of 
men  and  animals  overwhelmed  by  this  universal  deluge, 
or  destroyed  by  the  violent  shock ;  entire  species  an- 
nihilated ;  every  monument  of  human  industry  over- 


38  OMEGA. 

thrown ;  such  are  the  disasters  which  might  result  from 
collision  with  a  comet." 

Thus  discussion,  researches  into  the  past,  calculations, 
conjectures  succeeded  each  other.  But  that  which  made 
the  deepest  impression  on  every  mind  was  first  that, 
as  proved  by  observation,  the  present  comet  had  a 
nucleus  of  considerable  density,  and  second,  that  car- 
bonic-oxide gas  was  unquestionably  the  chief  chemical 
constituent.  Fear  and  terror  resumed  their  sway.  Noth- 
ing else  was  thought  of,  or  talked  about,  but  the 
comet.  Already  inventive  minds  sought  some  way, 
more  or  less  practicable,  of  evading  the  danger.  Chem- 
ists pretended  to  be  able  to  preserve  a  part  of  the 
oxygen  of  the  atmosphere.  Methods  were  devised  for 
the  isolation  of  t'lis  gas  from  the  nitrogen  and  its  stor- 
age in  immense  vessels  of  glass  hermetically  sealed. 
A  clever  pharmacist  asserted  that  he  had  condensed 
it  in  pastiles,  and  in  a  fortnight  expended  eight  mill- 
ions in  advertising.  Thus  commerce  made  capital  out 
of  everything,  even  universal  death.  All  hope  was  not, 
however,  abandoned.  People  disputed,  trembled,  grew 
anxious,  shuddered,  died  even — but  hoped  on. 

The  latest  news  was  to  the  effect  that  the  comet, 
developing,  as  it  approached  the  thermal  and  electric 
influences  of  the  sun,  would  have  at  the  moment  of 
impact  a  diameter  sixty-five  times  that  of  the  earth,  or 
828,000  kilometers. 


OMEGA. 


39 


It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  state  of  general  anxiety 
that  the  session  of  the  Institute,  whose  utterance  was 
awaited  as  the  last  word  of  an  oracle,  was  opened. 

The  director  of  the  observatory  of  Paris  was  natur- 
ally to  be  the  first  speaker ;  but  what  seemed  to  ex- 
cite the  greatest  interest  in  the  public  was  the  opinion 
of  the  president  of  the  academy  of  medicine  on  the 
probable  effects  of  carbonic-oxide.  The  president  of 
the  geological  society  of  France  was  also  to  make  an 
address,  and  the  general  object  of  the  session  was  to 
pass  in  review  all  the  possible  ways  in  which  onr 
earth  might  come  to  an  end.  Evidently,  however,  the 
discussion  of  its  collision  with  the  comet  would  hold 
the  first  place. 

As  we  have  just  seen,  the  threatening  star  hnng 
above  every  head ;  everybody  could  see  it ;  it  was 
growing  larger  day  by  day ;  it  was  approaching  with 
an  increasing  velocity ;  it  was  known  to  be  at  a  dis- 
tance of  only  17,992,000  kilometers,  and  that  this  dis- 
tance would  be  passed 
over  in  five  days.  Every 
hour  brought  this  menac- 
ing hand,  ready  to  strike, 
149,000  kilometers  near- 
er. In  six  days  anxious 
humanity  would  breathe 
freely — or  not  at  all. 


FRIGHTENED    WATCHERS. 


A   GROUP   OF   LISTENERS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

NEVER,  within  the  history  of  man,  had  the  immense 
hemicycle,  constructed  at  the  end  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, been  invaded  by  so  compact  a  crowd.  It  would 
have  been  mechanically  impossible  for  another  person 
to  force  an  entrance.  The  amphitheater,  the  boxes,  the 
tribunes,  the  galleries,  the  aisles,  the  stairs,  the  corridors, 
the  doorways,  all,  to  the  very  steps  of  the  platform, 
were  filled  with  people,  sitting  or  standing.  Among 
the  audience  were  the  president  of  the  United  States 
of  Europe,  the  director  of  the  French  republic,  the  di- 
rectors of  the  Italian  and  Iberian  republics,  the  chief 
ambassador  of  India,  the  ambassadors  of  the  British, 
German,  Hungarian  and  Muscovite  republics,  the  king 
of  the  Congo,  the  president  of  the  committee  of  ad- 


OMEGA. 


ministrators,  all  the  ministers,  the  prefect  of  the  inter- 
national exchange,  the  cardinal-archbishop  of  Paris,  the 
director-general  of  telephones,  the  president  of  the  coun- 
cil of  aerial  navigation  and  electric  roads,  the  director 
of  the  international  bureau  of  time,  the  principal  as- 
tronomers, chemists,  physiologists  and  physicians  of 
France,  a  large  number  of  state  officials  (formerly  called 
deputies  or  senators),  many  celebrated  writers  and  art- 
ists, in  a  word,  a  rarely  assembled  galaxy  of  the  rep- 
resentatives of  science,  politics,  commerce,  industry,  lit- 
erature and  every  sphere  of  human  activity.  The  plat- 
form was  occupied  by  the  president,  vice-presidents, 
permanent  secretaries  and  orators  of  the  day,  but  they 
did  not  wear,  as  formerly,  the  green  coat  and  chapeau 
or  the  old-fashioned  sword,  they  were  dressed  simply 
in  civil  costume,  and  for 
two  centuries  and  a  half 
every  European  decoration 
had  been  suppressed  ;  those 
of  central  Africa,  on  the 
contrary,  were  of  the  most 
brilliant  description. 

Domesticated  monkeys, 
which  for  more  than  half  a 
century  had  filled  every 
place  of  service — impossible 
otherwise  to  provide  for — 


A   DOMESTICATED   MONKEY. 


42  OMEGA. 

stood  at  the  doors,  in  conformity  to  the  regulations, 
rather  than  to  verify  the  cards  of  admission  ;  for  long 
before  the  hour  fixed  upon  every  place  had  been  occupied. 

The  president  opened  the  session  as  follows  (it  is 
needless  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  language  of 
the  xxxvth  century  is  here  translated  into  that  of  the 
xixth) : 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen :  You  all  know  the  object 
for  which  we  are  assembled.  Never,  certainly,  has  hu- 
manity passed  through  such  a  crisis  as  this.  Never, 
indeed,  has  this  historic  room  of  the  twentieth  century 
contained  such  an  audience.  The  great  problem  of 
the  end  of  the  world  has  been  for  a  fortnight  the 
single  object  of  discussion  and  study  among  savants. 
The  results  of  their  discussions  and  researches  are  now 
to  be  announced.  Without  further  preamble  I  give 
-place  to  the  director  of  the  observatory." 

The  astronomer  immediately  arose,  holding  a  few 
notes  in  his  hand.  He  had  an  easy  address,  an  agree- 
able voice,  and  a  pleasant  countenance.  His  gestures 
were  few  and  his  expression  pleasing.  He  had  a  broad 
forehead  and  a  magnificent  head  of  curling,  white  hair 
framed  his  face.  He  was  a  man  of  learning  and  of 
culture,  as  well  as  of  science,  and  his  whole  person- 
ality inspired  both  sympathy  and  respect.  His  tem- 
perament was  evidently  optimistic,  even  under  circum- 
stances of  great  peril.  Scarcely  had  he  begun  to  speak 


OMEGA.  43 

when  the  mournful  and  anxious  faces  before  him  became 
suddenly  calm  and  reassured. 

"  Ladies,"  he  began,  "  I  address  myself  first  to  you, 
begging  you  not  to  tremble  in  this  way  before  a 
danger  which  may  well  be  less  terrible  than  it  seems. 
I  hope  presently  to  convince  you,  by  the  arguments 
which  I  shall  have  the  honor  to  lay  before  you,  that 
the  comet,  whose  approach  is  expected  by  the  entire 
race,  will  not  involve  the  total  ruin  of  the  earth. 
Doubtless,  we  may,  and  should,  expect  some  catastro- 
phe, but  as  for  the  end  of  the  world,  really,  every- 
thing would  lead  us  to  believe  that  it  will  not  take 
place  in  this  manner.  Worlds  die  of  old  age,  not  by 
accident,  and,  ladies,  you  know  better  than  I  that  the 
world  is  far  from  being  old. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  see  before  me  representatives  of  every 
social  sphere,  from  the  highest  to  the  most  humble. 
Before  a  danger  so  apparent,  threatening  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  life,  it  is  not  surprising  that  every  busi- 
ness operation  should  be  absolutely  suspended.  Never- 
theless, as  for  myself,  I  confess  that  if  the  bourse  was 
not  closed,  and  if  I  had  never  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  interested  in  speculation,  I  should  not  hesitate  to- 
day to  purchase  securities  which  have  fallen  so  low." 

This  sentence  was  finished  before  a  noted  Amer- 
ican Israelite  —  a  prince  of  finance — director  of  the 
journal  The  Twenty-fifth  Century,  occupying  a  seat  on 


44 


OMEGA  . 


one  of  the  upper  steps  of 
the  amphitheater,  forced 
his  wayy  one  hardly  knows 
how,  through  the  rows  of 
benches,  and  rolled  like  a 
ball  to  the  corridor  leading 
to  an  exit,  through  which 
he  disappeared. 

After  the  momentary  in- 
terruption caused  by  this 
unexpected  sequel  to  a 
purely  scientific  remark, 
the  orator  resumed : 

"  Our  subject,"  he  said, 
"  may  be  considered  under 
three  heads  :  i.  Is  the  col- 
lision of  the  comet  with 
the  earth  certain  ?  If  this 
question  is  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  we  shall 

have  to  examine :  2.  The  nature  of  the  comet,  and,  3, 
the  possible  effects  of  a  collision.  I  have  no  need  to 
remind  so  intelligent  an  audience  as  this  that  the  pro- 
phetic words  '  End  of  the  world,'  so  often  heard  today, 
signify  solely  *  End  of  the  earth,'  which  moment  indeed, 
of  all  others,  has  the  most  interest  for  us. 

"If  we    are  able    to  answer  the    first  question   in   the 


THE   PRINCE   OF   FINANCE   LEAVING 
THE    INSTITUTE. 


OMEGA.  45 

negative,  it  will  be  quite  superfluous  to  consider  the 
other  two,  which  would  become  of  secondary  interest. 

"  Unfortunately,  I  must  admit  that  the  calculations 
of  the  astronomers  are  in  this  case,  as  usual,  entirely 
correct.  Yes,  the  comet  will  strike  the  earth,  and, 
doubtless,  with  maximum  force,  since  the  impact  will 
be  direct.  The  velocity  of  the  earth  is  29,400  me- 
ters per  second ;  that  of  the  comet  is  41,660  meters, 
plus  the  acceleration  due  to  the  attraction  of  our 
planet.  The  initial  velocity  of  contact,  therefore,  will 
be  72,000  meters  per  second.  The  collision,  is  inevit- 
able, with  all  its  consequences,  if  the  impact  of  the 
comet  is  direct ;  but  it  will  be  slightly  oblique.  But 
do  not  for  this  reason,  take  matters  so  to  heart.  In 
itself  the  collision  proves  nothing.  If  it  were  an- 
nounced, for  example,  that  a  railway  train  was  to  en- 
counter a  swarm  of  flies,  this  prediction  would  not 
greatly  trouble  the  traveller.  It  may  well  be  that 
the  collision  of  our  earth  with  this  nebulous  star  will 
be  of  the  same  nature. 

u  Permit  me  now  to  examine,  calmly,  the  two  re- 
maining questions. 

"  First,  what  is  the  nature  of  the  comet  ?  That 
everyone  knows  already  ;  it  is  a  gas  whose  principal 
constituent  is  carbonic-oxide.  Invisible  under  ordinary 
conditions,  at  the  temperature  of  stellar  space  (273 
degrees  below  zero),  this  gas  is  in  a  state  of  vapor, 


46  OMEGA. 

even  of  solid  particles.  The  comet  is  saturated  with 
them.  I  shall  not  in  this  matter  dispute  in  the  least 
the  discoveries  of  science." 

This  confession  deepened  anew  the  painful  expres- 
sion on  the  faces  of  most  of  the  audience,  and  here  a 
long  sigh  was  drawn. 

"  But,  gentlemen,"  resumed  the  astronomer,  "  until 
one  of  our  eminent  colleagues  of  the  section  of  physi- 
ology, or  of  the  academy  of  medicine,  deigns  to  prove 
for  us  that  the  density  of  the  comet  is  sufficient  to 
admit  of  its  penetration  into  our  atmosphere,  I  do  not 
believe  that  its  presence  is  likely  to  exert  a  fatal  in- 
fluence upon  human  life.  I  say  is  likely,  for  it  is 
not  possible  to  affirm  this  with  certainty,  although  the 
probability  is  very  great.  One  might  perhaps  wager  a 
million  to  one.  In  any  case,  only  those  affected  with 
weak  lungs  will  be  victims.  It  will  be  a  simple  influ- 
enza, which  may  increase  three  or  five-fold  the  daily 
death  rate. 

"  If,  however,  as  the  telescope  and  camera  agree  in 
indicating,  the  nucleus  contains  large  mineral  masses, 
probably  of  a  metallic  nature,  uranolites,  measuring 
several  kilometers  in  diameter,  and  weighing  some  mill- 
ions of  tons,  one  cannot  but  admit  that  the  localities 
where  these  masses  will  fall,  with  the  velocity  referred 
to  a  moment  ago,  would  be  utterly  destroyed.  Let  us 
observe,  however,  that  three-fourths  of  the  globe  is 


OMEGA  . 


47 


"A  FEW   CITIES   IN   ASHES   CANNOT   ARREST  THE  HISTORY  OF  HUMANITY." 

covered  with  water.  Here  again  is  a  contingency,  not 
so  important  doubtless  as  the  first,  but,  nevertheless, 
in  our  favor ;  these  masses  may  perhaps  fall  into  the 
sea,  forming  possibly  new  islands  of  foreign  origin, 
bringing  in  any  case  elements  new  to  science,  and,  it 
may  be,  germs  of  unknown  life ;  Geodesy  would  in 
this  case  be  interested,  and  the  form  and  rotary  move- 
ment of  the  earth  might  be  modified.  Let  us  note 
also  that  not  a  few  deserts  mark  the  earth's  surface. 
Danger  exists,  assuredly,  but  it  is  not  overwhelming. 

"  Besides  these  masses  and  these  gases,  perhaps  also 
the  bolides  of  which  we  were  speaking,  coming  in 
clouds,  will  kindle  conflagrations  at  various  places  on 
the  continents ;  dynamite,  nitroglycerine,  panclastite  and 
royalite  would  be  playthings  in  comparison  with  what 
may  overtake  us,  but  this  does  not  imply  a  universal 


48  OMEGA. 

cataclysm  ;    a  few  cities  in  ashes   cannot  arrest    the    his- 
tory  of  humanity. 

,"  You  see,  gentlemen,  from  this  methodical  examina- 
tion of  the  three  points  before  us,  it  follows  that  the 
danger,  while  it  exists,  and  is  even  imminent,  is  not  so 
great,  so  overwhelming,  so  certain,  as  is  asserted.  I 
will  even  say  more :  this  curious  astronomical  event, 
which  sets  so  many  hearts  beating  and  fills  with  anx- 
iety so  many  minds,  in  the  eyes  of  the  philosopher 
scarcely  changes  the  usual  aspect  of  things.  Each  one 
of  us  must  some  day  die,  and  this  certainty  does  not 
prevent  us  from  living  tranquilly.  Why  should  the 
apprehension  of  a  somewhat  more  speedy  death  disturb 
the  serenity  of  so  many  of  us?  Is  the  thought  of  our 
dying  together  so  disagreeable?  This  should  prove 
rather  a  consolation  to  our  egotism.  No,  it  is  the 
thought  that  a  stupendous  catastrophe  is  to  shorten  our 
lives  by  a  few  days  or  years.  Life  is  short,  and  each 
clings  to  the  smallest  fraction  of  it ;  it  would  even 
seem,  from  what  one  hears,  that  each  would  prefer  to 
see  the  whole  world  perish,  provided  he  himself  sur- 
vived, rather  than  die  alone  and  know  the  world  was 
saved.  This  is  pure  egoism.  But,  gentlemen,  I  am 
firm  in  the  belief  that  this  will  be  only  a  partial  disas- 
ter, of  the  highest  scientific  importance,  but  leaving  be- 
hind it  historians  to  tell  its  story.  There  will  be  a  col- 
lision, shock,  and  local  ruin.  It  will  be  the  history  of 


OMEGA. 


49 


an  earthquake,  of  a  volcanic  eruption,  of  a  cyclone." 
Thus  spoke  the  illustrious  astronomer.  The  audience 
appeared  satisfied,  calmed,  tranquillized — in  part,  at  least. 
It  was  no  longer  the  question  of  the  absolute  end  of  all 
things,  but  of  a  catastrophe,  from  which,  after  all,  one 
would  probably  escape.  Whispered  murmurs  of  conver- 
sation were  to  be  heard  ;  people  confided  to  each  other 
their  impressions  ;  merchants  and  politicians  even  seemed 
to  have  perfectly  understood  the  arguments  advanced, 
when,  at  the  invitation  of  the  presiding  officer,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  academy  of  medicine  was  seen  advancing 
slowly  toward  the  tribune. 

He  was  a  tall  man,  spare,  slender,  erect,  with  a  sallow 
face  and  ascetic  appearance,  and  melancholy  countenance 
—  bald-headed,  and 
wearing  closely  - 
trimmed,  gray  side- 
whiskers.  His  voice 
had  something  cadaver- 
ous about  it,  and  his 
whole  personality  called 
to  mind  the  undertaker 
rather  than  the  physi- 
cian fired  with  the  hope 
of  curing  his  patients. 
His  estimate  of  affairs 
was  very  different  from 


HK  WAS   A   TALL,    SPARE   MAN." 


50  OMEGA. 

that  of  the  astronomer,  as  was  apparent  from  the  very 
first  word  he  uttered. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "I  shall  be  as  brief  as  the  emi- 
nent savant  to  whom  we  have  just  listened,  although  I 
have  passed  many  a  night  in  analyzing,  to  the  minutest 
detail,  the  properties  of  carbonic-oxide.  It  is  about  this 
gas  that  I  shall  speak  to  you,  since  science  has  demon- 
strated that  it  is  the  chief  constituent  of  the  comet,  and 
that  a  collision  with  the  earth  is  inevitable. 

"  These  properties  are  terrible  ;  why  not  confess  it  ? 
For  the  most  infinitesimal  quantity  of  this  gas  in  the  air 
we  breathe  is  sufficient  to  arrest  in  three  minutes  the  nor- 
mal action  of  the  lungs  and  to  destroy  life. 

"  Everybody  knows  that  carbonic-oxide  (known  in 
chemistry  as  co)  is  a  permanent  gas  without  odor,  color 
or  taste,  and  nearly  insoluble  in  water.  Its  density  in 
comparison  with  the  air  is  0.96.  It  burns  in  the  air  with  a 
blue  flame  of  slight  illuminating  power,  like  a  funereal  fire, 
the  product  of  this  combustion  being  carbonic  anhydride. 

"  Its  most  notable  property  is  its  tendency  to  absorb 
oxygen.  (The  orator  dwelt  upon  these  two  words  with 
great  emphasis.)  In  the  great  iron  furnaces,  for  example, 
carbon,  in  the  presence  of  an  insufficient  quantity  of  air, 
becomes  transformed  into  carbonic-oxide,  and  it  is  sub- 
sequently this  oxide  which  reduces  the  iron  to  a  metallic 
state,  by  depriving  it  of  the  oxygen  with  which  it  was 
combined. 


OMEGA.  51 

"  In  the  sunlight  carbonic-oxide  combines  with  chlorine 
and  gives  rise  to  an  oxychlorine  (cocL2) — a  gas  with  a  dis- 
agreeable, suffocating  odor. 

"  The  fact  which  deserves  our  more  serious  attention, 
is  that  this  gas  is  of  the  most  poisonous  character — far 
more  so  than  carbonic  anhydride.  Its  effect  upon  the  he- 
moglobin is  to  diminish  the  respiratory  capacity  of  the 
blood,  and  even  in  very  small  doses,  by  its  cumulative 
effect,  hinders,  to  a  degree  altogether  out  of  proportion 
to  the  apparent  cause,  the  oxygenizing  properties  of  the 
blood.  For  example  :  blood  which  absorbs  from  twenty- 
three  to  twenty-four  cubic  centimeters  of  oxygen  per  hun- 
dred volumes,  absorbs  only  one-half  as  much  in  an  atmos- 
phere which  contains  less  than  one-thousandth  part  of 
carbonic-oxide.  The  one-ten-thousandth  part  even  has  a 
deleterious  effect,  sensibly  diminishing  the  respiratory 
action  of  the  blood.  The  result  is  not  simple  asphyxia, 
but  an  almost  instantaneous  blood-poisoning.  Carbonic- 
oxide  acts  directly  upon  the  blood  corpuscles,  combining 
with  them  and  rendering  them  unfit  to  sustain  life  :  hema- 
tosis,  that  is,  the  conversion  of  venous  into  arterial  blood, 
is  arrested.  Three  minutes  are  sufficient  to  produce  death. 
The  circulation  of  the  blood  ceases.  The  black  venous 
blood  fills  the  arteries  as  well  as  the  veins.  The  latter, 
especially  those  of  the  brain,  become  surcharged,  the  sub- 
stance of  the  brain  becomes  punctured,  the  base  of  the 
tongue,  the  larynx,  the  wind-pipe,  the  bronchial  tubes 


52  OMEGA. 

become  red  with  blood,  and  soon  the  entire  body  pre- 
sents the  characteristic  purple  appearance  which  results 
from  the  suspension  of  hematosis. 

"  But,  gentlemen,  the  injurious  properties  of  carbonic- 
oxide  are  not  the  only  ones  to  be  feared  ;  the  mere  ten- 
dency of  this  gas  to  absorb  oxygen  would  bring  about 
fatal  results.  To  suppress,  nay,  even  only  to  diminish 
oxygen,  would  suffice  for  the  extinction  of  the  human 
species.  Everyone  here  present  is  familiar  with  that  inci- 
dent which,  with  so  many  others,  marks  the  epoch  of  bar- 
barism, when  men  assassinated  each  other  legally  in  the 
name  of  glory  and  of  patriotism  ;  it  is  a  simple  episode 
of  one  of  the  English  wars  in  India.  Permit  me  to  recall 
it  to  your  memory  : 

"  One  hundred  and  forty-six  prisoners  had  been  con- 
fined in  a  room  whose  only  outlets  were  two  small  win- 
dows opening  upon  a  corridor  ;  the  first  effect  experienced 
by  these  unfortunate  captives  was  a  free  and  persistent 
perspiration,  followed  by  insupportable  thirst,  and  soon  by 
great  difficulty  in  breathing.  They  sought  in  various 
ways  to  get  more  room  and  air  ;  they  divested  themselves 
of  their  clothes  ;  they  beat  the  air  with  their  hats,  and 
finally  resorted  to  kneeling  and  rising  together  at  inter- 
vals of  a  few  seconds  ;  but  each  time  some  of  those  whose 
strength  failed  them  fell  and  were  trampled  under  the 
feet  of  their  comrades.  Before  midnight,  that  is,  during  the 
fourth  hour  of  their  confinement,  all  who  were  still  living, 


OMEGA. 


53 


THE  BLACK  HOLE  OF  CALCUTTA. 


and  who  had  not  succeeded  in  obtaining  purer  air  at  the 
windows,  had  fallen  into  a  lethargic  stupor,  or  a  frightful 
delirium.  When,  a  few  hours  later,  the  prison  door  was 
opened,  only  twenty-three  men  came  out  alive ;  they  were 


54  OMEGA. 

in  the  most  pitiable  state  imaginable  ;  every  face  wearing 
the  impress  of  the  death  from  which  they  had  barely 
escaped. 

"  I  might  add  a  thousand  other  examples,  but  it  would 
be  useless,  for  doubt  upon  this  point  is  impossible.  I 
therefore  affirm,  gentlemen,  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
absorption  by  the  carbonic-oxide  of  a  portion  of  the 
atmospheric  oxygen,  or,  on  the  other,  the  powerfully 
toxic  properties  of  this  gas  upon  the  vital  elements  of  the 
blood,  alike  seem  to  me  to  give  to  the  meeting  of  our 
globe  with  the  immense  mass  of  the  comet — in  the  heart 
of  which  we  shall  be  plunged  for  several  hours — I  affirm, 
I  repeat,  that  this  meeting  involves  consequences  abso- 
lutely fatal.  For  my  part,  I  see  no  chance  of  escape. 

"  I  have  not  spoken  of  the  transformation  of  mechanical 
motion  into  heat,  or  of  the  mechanical  and  chemical  con- 
sequences of  the  collision.  I  leave  this  aspect  of  the  ques- 
tion to  the  permanent  secretary  of  the  academy  of  sciences 
and  to  the  learned  president  of  the  astronomical  society  of 
France,  who  have  made  it  the  subject  of  important  inves- 
tigations. As  for  me,  I  repeat,  terrestrial  life  is  in  danger, 
and  I  see  not  one  only,  but  two,  three  and  four  mortal 
perils  confronting  it.  Escape  will  be  a  miracle,  and  for 
centuries  no  one  has  believed  in  miracles." 

This  speech,  uttered  with  the  tone  of  conviction,  in  a 
clear,  calm  and  solemn  voice,  again  plunged  the  entire 
audience  into  a  state  of  mind  from  which  the  preceding 


OMEGA: 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  WORLD 


BY 


CAM1LLE    FLAMMARION 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 

JEAN    PAUL  LAURENS,  SAUNIF.R,  MEAULLE,  VOGEL,   ROCHEGROSSE,    GERADIN, 
CHOVIN,  Totiss.MNT,  GUILLONNET,  SCHWABE,   AND  OTHERS 


NEW  YORK: 
THE  COSMOPOLITAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    18941 

BY 
J.   B.   WALKER 


THE  COSMOPOLITAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Jiy   Juan  Paul  Laurens. 


OMEGA: 


THE     I,  AST     DAYS    OF    THE    WORLD. 


CHAPTER    I. 


HP  HE  magnificent"  marble  bridge  which  unites  the  Rue 
de  Rennes  with  the  Rue  de  Louvre,  and  which,  lined 
with  the  statues  of  celebrated  scientists  and  philosophers, 
emphasizes  the  monumental  avenue  leading  to  the  new 
portico  of  the  Institute,  was  absolutely  black  with  people. 
A  heaving  crowd  surged,  rather  than  walked,  along  the 


OMEGA. 


55 


address  had,  happily,  released  them.  The  certainty  of  the 
approaching  disaster  was  painted  upon  every  face ;  some 
had  become  yellow,  almost  green  ;  others  suddenly  became 
scarlet  and  seemed  on  the  verge  of  apoplexy.  Some  few 
among  the  audience  appeared  to  have  retained  their  self- 
possession,  through  scepticism  or  a  philosophic  effort  to 
make  the  best  of  it.  A  vast  murmur  filled  the  room  ; 
everyone  whispered  his  opinions  to  his  neighbor,  opinions 
generally  more  optimistic  than  sincere,  for  no  one  likes  to 
appear  afraid. 

The  president  of  the  astronomical  society  of  France  rose 
in  his  turn  and  advanced  toward  the  tribune.  Instantly 
every  murmur  was  hushed.  Below  we  give  the  main 
points  of  his  speech,  including  the  opening  remarks  and 
the  peroration  : 

"  Ivadies  and  gentlemen :  After  the  statements  which 
we  have  just  heard,  no  doubt  can  remain  in  any  mind  as 
to  the  certainty  of  the  collision  of  the  comet  with  the 
earth,  and  the  dangers  attending  this  event.  We  must, 
therefore,  expect  on  Saturday —  " 

"  On  Friday,"  interrupted  a  voice  from  the  desk  of  the 
Institute. 

-* 

u  On  Saturday,  I  repeat,"  continued  the  orator,  without 
noticing  the  interruption,  "  an  extraordinary  event,  one 
absolutely  unique  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

"  I  say  Saturday,  although  the  papers  announce  that 
the  collision  will  take  place  on  Friday,  because  it  cannot 


56  OMEGA. 

occur  before  July  i4th.  I  passed  the  entire  night  with 
my  learned  colleague  in  comparing;  the  observations  re- 
ceived, and  we  discovered  an  error  in  their  transmission." 

This  statement  produced  a  sensation  of  relief  among-  the 
audience  ;  it  was  like  a  slender  ray  of  light  in  the  middle 
of  a  somber  night.  A  single  day  of  respite  is  of  enormous 
importance  to  one  condemned  to  death.  Already  chimer- 
ical projects  formed  in  even-  mind ;  the  catastrophe  was 
put  off  ;  it  was  a  kind  of  reprieve.  It  was  not  remem- 
bered that  this  diversion  was  of  a  purely  cosmographic 
nature,  relating  to  the  date  and  not  to  the  fact  of  the 
collision.  But  the  least  things  play  an  important  role  in 
public  opinion.  So  it  was  not  to  be  on  Friday  ! 

"  Here,"  he  said,  going  to  the  black-board,  "  are  the 
elements  as  finally  computed  from  all  the  observations." 
The  speaker  traced  upon  the  black-board  the  following 
figures  : 

Perihelion  passage  August   n,  at  oh.,  42111.,  44s. 

Longitude  of  perihelion,  52°,  43',  25" '. 

Perihelion  distance,  0.7607. 

Inclination,  103°,  18',  35' '. 

Longitude  of  ascending  node,  112°,  54',  40". 

"  The  comet,"  he  resumed,  "  will  cross  the  ecliptic  in 
the  direction  of  the  descending  node  28  minutes,  23  sec- 
onds after  midnight  of  July  i4th  just  as  the  earth  reaches' 
the  point   of  crossing.     The   attraction   of  the  earth  will 
advance  the  moment  of  contact   by  only  thirty   seconds. 


OMEGA.  57 

"  The  event,  doubtless,  will  be  altogether  exceptional, 
but  I  do  not  believe  either,  that  it  will  be  of  so  tragical  a 
nature  as  has  been  depicted,  or  that  it  can  really  bring 
about  blood  poison  or  universal  asphyxia.  It  will  rather 
present  the  appearance  of  a  brilliant  display  of  celestial 
fire-works,  for  the  arrival  in  the  atmosphere  of  these  solid 
and  gaseous  bodies  cannot  occur  without  the  conversion 
into  heat  of  the  mechanical  motion  thus  destroyed  ;  a 
magnificent  illumination  of  the  sky  will  doubtless  be  the 
first  phenomenon. 

"  The  heat  evolved  must  necessarily  be  very  great. 
Every  shooting  star,  however  small,  entering  the  upper 
limits  of  our  atmosphere  with  a  cometary  velocity,  imme- 
diately becomes  so  hot  that  it  takes  fire  and  is  consumed. 
You  know,  gentlemen,  that  the  earth's  atmosphere  ex- 
tends far  into  space  about  our  planet ;  not  without  limit, 
as  certain  hypotheses  declare,  since  the  earth  turns  on  its 
axis  and  moves  about  the  sun  :  the  mathematical  limit  is 
that  height  at  which  the  centrifugal  force  engendered  by 
the  diurnal  rotary  motion  becomes  equal  to  the  weight  ; 
this  height  is  6.64  times  the  equatorial  radius  of  the  earth, 
the  latter  being  6,378,310  meters.  The  maximum  height 
of  the  atmosphere,  therefore,  is  35,973  kilometers. 

"  I  do  not  here  wish  to  enter  into  a  mathematical  dis- 
cussion. But  the  audience  before  me  is  too  well  informed 
not  to  know  the  mechanical  equivalent  of  heat.  Every 
body  whose  motion  is  arrested  produces  a  quantity  of  heat 


$S  OMEGA. 

expressed  in  caloric  units  by  invs  divided  by  8338,  in 
which  ;;/  is  the  mass  of  the  body  in  kilograms  and  v  its 
velocity  in  meters  per  second.  For  example,  a  body 
weighing  8338  kilograms,  moving  with  a  velocity  of  one 
meter  per  second,  would  produce,  if  suddenly  stopped, 
exactly  One  heat  unit ;  that  is  to  say,  the  quantity  of  heat 
necessary  to  raise  one  kilogram  of  water  one  degree  in 
temperature. 

"  If  the  velocity  of  the  body  be  500  meters  per  second, 
it  would  produce  250,000  times  as  much  heat,  or  enough 
to  raise  a  quantity  of  water  of  equal  mass  from  o°  to  30°. 

"  If  the  velocity  were  5000  meters  per  second,  the  heat 
developed  would  be  5,000,000  times  as  great. 

"  Now,  you  know,  gentlemen,  that  the  velocity  with 
which  a  comet  may  reach  the  earth  is  72,000  meters 
per  second.  At  this  figure  the  temperature  becomes  five 
milliards  of  degrees. 

"  This,  indeed,  is  the  maximum  and,  I  should  add,  a 
number  altogether  inconceivable  ;  but,  gentlemen,  let  us 
take  the  minimum,  if  it  be  your  pleasure,  and  let  us  admit 
that  the  impact  is  not  direct,  but  more  or  less  oblique,  and 
that  the  mean  velocity  is  not  greater  than  30,000  meters 
per  second.  Even-  kilogram  of  a  bolide  would  develop  in 
this  case  107,946  heat  units  before  its  velocity  would  be 
destroyed  by  the  resistance  of  the  air  ;  in  other  words,:  it 
would  generate  sufficient  heat  to  raise  the  temperature  of 
1079  kilograms  of  water  from  o°  to  100° — that  is,  from 


OMEGA.  59 

the  freezing  to  the  boiling  point.  A  uranolite  weighing 
2000  kilograms  would  thus,  before  reaching  the  earth, 
develop  enough  heat  to  raise  the  temperature  of  a  column 
of  air,  whose  cross-section  is.  thirty  square  meters  and 
whose  height  is  equal  to  that  of  our  atmosphere,  3000°,  or, 
to  raise  from  o°  to  30°  a  column  whose  cross-section  is 
3000  square  meters. 

"  These  calculations,  for  the  introduction  of  which  I 
crave  your  pardon,  are  necessary  to  show  that  the  imme- 
diate consequence  of  the  collision  will  be  the  production 
of  an  enormous  quantity  of  heat,  and,  therefore,  a  consider- 
able rise  in  the  temperature  of  the  air.  This  is  exactly 
what  takes  place  on  a  small  scale  in  the  case  of  a  single 
meteorite,  which  becomes  melted  and  covered  superficially 
by  a  thin  layer  of  vitrified  matter,  resembling  varnish. 
But  its  fall  is  so  rapid  that  there  is  not  sufficient  time  for 
it  to  become  heated  to  the  center  ;  if  broken,  its  interior  is 
found  to  be  absolutely  cold.  It  is  the  surrounding  air 
which  has  been  heated. 

"  One  of  the  most  curious  results  of  the  analysis  which  I 
have  just  had  the  honor  to  lay  before  you,  is  that  the  solid 
masses  which,  it  is  believed,  have  been  seen  ;by  the  tele- 
scope in  the  nucleus  of  the  comet,  will  meet  with  such  re- 
sistance in  traversing  our  atmosphere  that,  except  in  rare 
instances,  they  will  not  reach  the  earth  entire,  but  in 
small  fragments.  There  will  be  a  compression  of  the  air 
in  front  of  the  bolide,  a  vacuum  behind  it,  a  superficial 


6o 


OMEGA, 


heating  and  incandescence  of  the  moving  body,  a  roar 
produced  by  the  air  rushing  into  the  vacuum,  the  roll  of 
thunder,  explosions,  the  fall  of  the  denser  metallic  por- 
tions and  the  evaporation,  of  the  remainder.  A  bolide 
of  sulphur,  of  phosphorus,  of  tin  or  of  zinc,  would  be 
consumed  and  dissipated  long  before  reaching  the  lower 
strata  of  our  atmosphere.  As  for  the  shooting  stars,  if, 


as  seems  probable,  there  is  a  veritable  cloud  of  them,  they 
will  only  produce  the  effect  of  a  vast  inverted  display  of 
fire-works. 

"  If,  therefore,  there  is  any  reason  for  alarm,  it  is  not,  in 
my  opinion,  because  we  are  to  apprehend  the  penetration 
of  the  gaseous  mass  of  carbonic-oxide  into  our  atmosphere, 
but  a  rise  in  temperature,  which  cannot  fail  to  result  from 


OMEGA.  6i 

the  transformation  of  mechanical  motion  into  heat.  If 
this  be  so,  safety  may  be  perhaps  attained  by  taking  refuge 
on  the  side  of  the  globe  opposed  to  that  which  is  to  expe- 
rience the  direct  shock  of  the  comet,  for  the  air  is  a  very 
bad  conductor  of  heat." 

The  permanent  secretary  of  the  academy  rose  in  his  turn. 
A  worthy  successor  to  the  Fontenelles  and  Aragos  of  the 
past,  he  was  not  only  a  man  of  profound  knowledge,  but 
also  an  elegant  writer  and  a  persuasive  orator,  rising  some- 
times even  to  the  highest  flights  of  eloquence. 

"  To  the  theory  which  we  have  just  heard,"  he  said,  "  I 
have  nothing  to  add  ;  I  can  only  apply  it  to  the  case  of 
some  comet  already  known.  Let  us  suppose,  for  example, 
that  a  comet  of  the  dimensions  of  that  of  1811  should  col- 
lide squarely  with  the  earth  in  its  path  about  the  sun. 
The  terrestrial  ball  would  penetrate  the  nebula  of  the 
comet  without  experiencing  any  very  sensible  resistance. 
Admitting  that  this  resistance  is  very  slight,  and  that  the 
density  of  the  comet's  nucleus  may  be  neglected,  the  pas- 
sage of  the  earth  through  the  head  of  a  comet  of  1,800,000 
kilometers  in  diameter,  would  require  at  least  25,000  sec- 
onds— that  is,  417  minutes,  or  six  hours,  fifty-seven  min- 
utes— in  round  numbers,  seven  hours — the  velocity  being 
1 20  times  greater  than  that  of  a  cannon-ball ;  and  the 
earth  continuing  to  rotate  upon  its  axis,  the  collision 
would  commence  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"  Such  a  plunge  into  the  cometary  ocean,  however  ran- 


OMEGA  . 


OMEGA,  63 

fied  it  might  be,  could  not  take  place  without  producing 
as  a  first  and  immediate  consequence,  by  reason  of  the 
thermodynamic  principles  which  have  been  just  called  to 
your  attention,  a  rise  in  temperature  such  that  probably 
our  entire  atmosphere  would  take  fire  !  It  seems  to  me 
that  in  this  particular  case  the  danger  would  be  very 
serious. 

"  But  it  would  be  a  fine  spectacle  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Mars,  and  a  finer  one  still  for  those  of  Venus.  Yes,  that 
would  indeed  be  a  magnificent  spectacle,  analogous  to 
those  we  have  ourselves  seen  in  the  heavens,  but  far  more 
splendid  to  our  near  neighbors. 

"  The  oxygen  of  the  air  would  prove  insufficient  to 
maintain  the  combustion,  but  there  is  another  gas  which 
physicists  do  not  often  think  of,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
they  have  never  found  it  in  their  analyses — hydrogen. 
What  has  become  of  all  the  hydrogen  freed  from  the  soil 
these  millions  of  years  which  have  elapsed  since  pre- 
historic times  ?  The  density  of  this  gas  being  one-six- 
teenth that  of  the  air,  it  must  have  ascended,  forming  a 
highly  rarified  hydrogen  envelope  above  our  atmosphere. 
In  virtue  of  the  law  of  diffusion  of  gases,  a  large  part  of 
this  hydrogen  would  become  mixed  with  the  atmosphere, 
but  the  upper  air  layers  must  contain  a  considerable  portion 
of  it.  There,  doubtless,  at  an  elevation  of  more  than  one 
hundred  kilometers,  the  shooting  stars  take  fire,  and  the 
aurora  borealis  is  lighted.  Notice  here  that  the  oxygen 


64  OMEGA. 

of  the  air  would  furnish  the  carbon  of  the  comet  ample 
material  during  collision  to  feed  the  celestial  fire. 

"  Thus  the  destruction  of  the  world  will  result  from  the 
combustion  of  the  atmosphere.  For  about  seven  hours — 
probably  a  little  longer,  as  the  resistance  to  the  comet  can- 
not be  neglected — there  will  be  a  continuous  transformation 
of  motion  into  a  heat.  The  hydrogen  and  the  oxygen,  com- 
bining with  the  carbon  of  the  comet,  will  take  fire.  The 
temperature  of  the  air  will  be  raised  several  hundred  de- 
grees ;  woods,  gardens,  plants,  forests,  habitations,  edifices, 
cities,  villages,  will  all  be  rapidly  consumed  ;  the  sea,  the 
lakes  and  the  rivers  will  begin  to  boil  ;  men  and  animals, 
enveloped  in  the  hot  breath  of  the  comet,  will  die  asphyx- 
iated before  they  are  burned,  their  gasping  lungs  inhaling 
only  flame.  Every  corpse  will  be  almost  immediately  car- 
bonized, reduced  to  ashes,  and  in  this  vast  celestial  fur- 
nace only  the  heart-rending  voice  of  the  trumpet  of  the 
indestructible  angel  of  the  Apocalypse  will  be  heard,  pro- 
claiming from  the  sky,  like  a  funeral  knell,  the  antique 
death-song  :  '  Solvet  sseculum  in  favilla.'  This  is  what 
may  happen  if  a  comet  like  that  of  1811  collides  with  the 
earth." 

At  these  words  the  cardinal-archbishop  rose  from  his 
seat  and  begged  to  be  heard.  The  astronomer,  perceiving 
him,  bowed  with  a  courtly  grace  and  seemed  to  await  the 
reply  of  his  eminence. 

"I    do   not   desire,"   said  the   latter,    "  to  interrupt  the 


OMEGA.  65 

honorable  speaker,  but  if  science  announces  that  the  drama 
of  the  end  of  the  world  is  to  be  ushered  in  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  heavens  by  fire,  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying 
that  this  has  always  been  the  universal  belief  of  the 
church.  '  The  heavens,'  says  St.  Peter,  '  shall  pass  away 
with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  meet  with  fer- 
vent heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works  that  are  therein 
shall  be  burned  up.'  St.  Paul  affirms  also  its  renovation 
by  fire,  and  we  repeat  daily  at  mass  his  words  :  '  Bum 
qui  venturus  est  judicare  vivos  et  mortuos  et  sseculum  per 
ignem.'  " 

"  Science,"  replied  the  astronomer,  u  has  more  than  once 
been  in  accord  with  the  prophecies  of  our  ancestors.  Fire 
will  first  devour  that  portion  of  the  globe  struck  by  the 
huge  mass  of  the  comet,  consuming  it  before  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  other  hemisphere  realize  the  extent  of  the 
catastrophe  ;  but  the  air  is  a  bad  conductor  of  heat,  and 
the  latter  will  not  be  immediately  propagated  to  the  oppo- 
site hemisphere. 

"  If  our  latitude  were  to  receive  the  first  shock  of  the 
comet,  reaching  us,  we  will  suppose,  in  summer,  the  tropic 
of  Cancer,  Morocco,  Algeria,  Tunis,  Greece  and  Egypt 
would  be  found  in  the  front  of  the  celestial  onset,  while 
Australia,  New  Caledonia  and  Oceanica  would  be  the  most 
favored.  But  the  rush  of  air  into  this  European  furnace 
would  be  such  that  a  storm  more  violent  than  the  most 
frightful  hurricane  and  more  formidable  even  than  the  air- 

5 


66  OMEGA. 

current  which  moves  continuously  on  the  equator  of  Jupi- 
ter, with  a  velocity  of  400,000  kilometers  per  hour,  would 
rage  from  the  Antipodes  towards  Europe,  destroying 
everything  in  its  path.  The  earth,  turning  upon  its  axis, 
would  bring  successively  into  the  line  of  collision,  the 
regions  lying  to  the  west  of  the  meridian  first  blasted. 
An  hour  after  Austria  and  Germany  it  would  be  the  turn 
of  France,  then  of  the  Atlantic  ocean,  then  of  North 
America,  which  would  enter  somewhat  obliquely  the 
dangerous  area  about  five  or  six  hours  after  France — 
that  is,  towards  the  end  of  the  collision. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  unheard-of  velocities  of  the  comet 
and  the  earth,  the  pressure  cannot  be  enormous,  in  view 
of  the  extremely  rarified  state  of  the  matter  traversed  by 
the  earth  ;  but  this  matter,  containing  so  much  carbon,  is 
combustible,  and  at  perihelion  these  bodies  are  not  infre- 
quently seen  to  shine  by  their  own  as  well  as  by  reflected 
light :  they  become  incandescent.  What,  then,  must  be 
the  result  of  a  collision  writh  the  earth  ?  The  combustion 
of  meteorites  and  bolides,  the  superficial  fusion  of  the 
uranolites  which  reach  the  earth's  surface  on  fire,  all  lead 
us  to  believe  that  the  moment  of  greatest  heat  will  be  that 
of  contact,  which  evidently  will  not  prevent  the  massive 
elements  forming  the  nucleus  of  the  comet  from  crushing 
the  localities  where  they  fall,  and  perhaps  even  breaking 
up  an  entire  continent. 

"  The  terrestrial  globe  being  thus  entirely  surrounded 


OMEGA. 


6j 


DEATH   BY  SUFFOCATION. 


68  OMEGA. 

by  the  cometary  mass  for  nearly  seven  hours,  and  revolv- 
ing in  this  incandescent  gas,  the  air  rushing  violently 
toward  the  center  of  disturbance,  the  sea  boiling  and  fill- 
ing the  atmosphere  with  new  vapors,  hot  showers  falling 
from  the  sky-cataracts,  the  storm  raging  everywhere  with 
electric  deflagrations  and  lightnings,  the  rolling  of  thunder 
heard  above  the  scream  of  the  tempest,  the  blessed  light  of 
former  days  having  been  succeeded  by  the  mournful  and 
sickly  gleamings  of  the  glowing  atmosphere,  the  whole 
earth  will  speedily  resound  with  the  funeral  knell  of 
universal  doom,  although  the  fate  of  the  dwellers  in  the 
Antipodes  will  probably  differ  from  that  of  the  rest  of 
mankind.  Instead  of  being  immediately  consumed,  they 
will  be  stifled  by  the  vapors,  by  the  excess  of  nitrogen— 
the  oxygen  having  been  rapidly  abstracted — or  poisoned 
by  carbonic-oxide  ;  the  fire  will  afterwards  reduce  their 
corpses  to  ashes,  while  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  and 
Africa  will  have  been  burned  alive. 

"  The  well-known  tendency  of  carbonic-oxide  to  absorb 
oxygen  will  doubtless  prove  a  sentence  of  instant  death 
for  those  farthest  from  the  initial  point  of  the  catas- 
trophe. 

u  I  have  taken  as  an  example  the  comet  of  1811  ;  but  I 
hasten  to  add  that  the  present  one  appears  to  be  far  less 
dense." 

"  Is  it  absolutely  sure  ?  "  cried  a  well-known  voice  (that 
of  an  illustrious  member  of  the  chemical  society)  from  one 


OMEGA.  69 

of  the  boxes.  "Is  it  absolutely  sure  the  comet  is  com- 
posed chiefly  of  carbonic-oxide  ?  Have  not  the  nitrogen 
lines  also  been  detected  in  its  spectrum  ?  If  it  should 
prove  to  be  protoxide  of  nitrogen,  the  consequence  of  its 
mixture  with  our  atmosphere  might  be  anaesthesia.  Kvery 
one  would  be  put  to  sleep — perhaps  forever,  if  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  vital  functions  were  to  last  but  a  little  longer 
than  is  the  case  in  our  surgical  operations.  It  would  be 
the  same  if  the  comet  was  composed  of  chloroform  or 
ether.  That  would  be  an  end  calm  indeed. 

"  It  would  be  less  so  if  the  comet  should  absorb  the 
nitrogen  instead  of  the  oxygen,  for  this  partial  or  total 
absorption  of  nitrogen  would  bring  about,  in  a  few  hours, 
for  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth — for  men  and  women, 
for  the  young  and  the  aged — a  change  of  temperament, 
involving  at  first  nothing  disagreeable — a  charming  so- 
briety, then  gayety,  followed  by  universal  joy,  a  feverish 
exultation,  finally  delirium  and  madness,  terminating,  in 
all  probability,  by  the  sudden  death  of  every  human  being 
in  the  apotheosis  of  a  wild  saturnalia,  an  unheard-of  frenzy 
of  the  senses.  Would  that  death  be  a  sad  one  ?  " 

"  The  discussion  remains  open,"  replied  the  secretary. 
"  What  I  have  said  of  the  possible  consequences  of  a  col- 
lision applies  to  the  direct  impact  of  a  comet  like  that  of 
1811  ;  the  one  that  threatens  us  is  less  colossal,  and  its 
impact  will  not  be  direct,  but  oblique.  In  common  with 
the  astronomers  who  have  preceded  me  on  this  floor,  I 


70  OMEGA, 

am  inclined  to  believe,  in  this  instance,  in  a  mighty  dis- 
play of  fire-works." 

While  the  orator  was  still  speaking,  a  young  girl  belong- 
ing to  the  central  bureau  of  telephones,  entered  by  a  small 
door,  conducted  by  a  domesticated  monkey,  and,  darting 
like  a  flash  to  the  seat  occupied  by  the  president,  put  into 
his  hands  a  large,  square,  international  envelope.  It  was 
immediately  opened,  and  proved  to  be  a  despatch  from  the 
observatory  of  Gaurisankar.  It  contained  only  the  follow- 
ing words  : 

u  The  inhabitants  of  Mars  are  sending  a  photophonic 
message.  Will  be  deciphered  in  a  few  hours." 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  president,  "  I  see  several  in  the 
audience  consulting  their  watches,  and  I  agree  with  them 
in  thinking  that  it  will  be  physically  impossible  for  us  to 
finish  in  a  single  session  this  important  discussion,  in 
which  eminent  representatives  of  geology,  natural  history 
and  geonomy  are  yet  to  take  part.  Moreover,  the  despatch 
just  read  will  doubtless  introduce  new  problems.  It  is 
nearly  six  o'clock.  I  propose  that  we  adjourn  to  nine 
o'clock  this  evening.  It  is  probable  that  we  shall  have 
received,  by  that  time,  from  Asia  the  translation  of  the 
message  from  Mars.  I  will  also  beg  the  director  of  the 
observatory  to  maintain  constant  communication,  by  tele- 
phone, with  Gaurisankar.  In  case  the  message  is  not 
deciphered  by  nine  o'clock,  the  president  of  the  geological 
society  of  France  will  open  the  meeting  with  a  statement 


OMEGA.  ji 

of  the  investigations  which  he  has  just  finished,  on  the 
natural  end  of  the  world.  Everybody,  at  this  moment,  is 
absorbingly  interested  in  whatever  relates  to  the  question 
of  the  end  of  our  world,  whether  this  is  dependent  upon 
the  mysterious  portent  now  suspended  above  us,  or  upon 
other  causes,  of  whatsoever  nature,  subject  to  investiga- 
tion." 


Hfl 


OMEGA. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  multitude  stationed  without  the  doors  of  the  In- 
stitute had  made  way  for  those  coming  out,  every  one 
being  eager  to  learn  the  particulars  of  the  session. 
Already  the  general  result  had  in  some  way  become 
known,  for  immediately  after  the  speech  of  the  direc- 
tor of  the  Paris  observatory  the  rumor  got  abroad  that 
the  collision  with  the  comet  would  not  entail  conse- 
quences so  serious  as  had  been  anticipated.  Indeed, 
large  posters  had  just  been  placarded  throughout  Paris, 
announcing  the  reopening  of  the  Chicago  stock  exchange. 
This  was  an  encouraging  and  unlocked  for  indication  of 
the  resumption  of  business  and  the  revival  of  hope. 

This  is  what  had  taken  place.  The  financial  magnate, 
whose  abrupt  exit  will  be  remembered  by  the  reader 
of  these  pages,  after  rolling  like  a  ball  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom  row  of  the  hemicycle,  had  rushed  in 
an  sero-cab  to  his  office  on  the  boulevard  St.  Cloud, 
where  he  had  telegraphed  to  his  partner  in  Chicago 
that  new  computations  had  just  been  given  out  by  the 
Institute  of  France,  that  the  gravity  of  the  situation 
had  been  exaggerated,  and  that  the  resumption  of  bus- 
iness was  imminent ;  he  urged,  therefore,  the  opening 
of  the  central  American  exchange  at  any  cost,  and  the 
purchase  of  every  security  offered,  whatever  its  nature. 
When  it  is  five  o'clock  at  Paris  it  is  eleven  in  the 


74  OMEGA. 

morning  at  Chicago.  The  financier  received  the  de- 
spatch from  his  cousin  while  at  breakfast.  He  found 
no  difficulty  in  arranging  for  the  reopening  of  the 
exchange  and  invested  several  millions  in  securities. 
The  news  of  the  resumption  of  business  in  Chicago 
had  been  at  once  made  public,  and  although  it  was 
too  late  to  repeat  the  same  game  in  Paris,  it  was  pos- 
sible to  prepare  new  plans  for  the  morrow.  The  public 
had  innocently  believed  in  a  spontaneous  and  genuine 
revival  of  business  in  America,  and  this  fact,  together 
with  the  satisfactory  impression  made  by  the  session  of 
the  Institute,  was  sufficient  to  rekindle  the  fires  of  hope. 

No  less  interest,  however,  was  manifested  in  the  even- 
ing session  than  in  that  of  the  afternoon,  and  but  for 
the  exertions  of  an  extra  detachment  of  the  French 
guard  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  those  enjoying 
Special  privileges  to  gain  admission.  Night  had  come, 
and  with  it  the  flaming  comet,  larger,  more  brilliant,  and 
more  threatening  than  ever ;  and  if,  perhaps,  one-half 
the  assembled  multitude  appeared  somewhat  tranquil- 
lized, the  remaining  half  was  still  anxious  and  fearful. 

The  audience  was  substantially  the  same,  every  one 
being  eager  to  know  at  first  hand  the  issue  of  this 
general  public  discussion  of  the  fate  of  the  planet, 
conducted  by  accredited  and  eminent  scientists,  whether 
its  destruction  was  to  be  the  result  of  an  extraordinary 
accident  such  as  now  threatened  it,  or  of  the  natural 


OMEGA.  75 

process  of  decay.  But  it  was  noticed  that  the  cardinal 
archbishop  of  Paris  was  absent,  for  he  had  been  sum- 
moned suddenly  to  Rome  by  the  Pope  to  attend  an 
oecumenical  council,  and  had  left  that  very  evening 
by  the  Paris-Rome-Palermo-Tunis  tube. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  president,  u  the  translation  of 
the  despatch  received  at  the  observatory  of  Gaurisankar 
from  Mars  has  not  arrived  yet,  but  we  shall  open  the 
session  at  once,  in  order  to  hear  the  important  com- 
munication previously  announced,  which  the  president 
of  the  geological  society,  and  the  permanent  secretary 
of  the  academy  of  meteorology,  have  to  make  to  us." 

The  former  of  these  gentlemen  was  already  at  the 
desk.  His  remarks,  stenographically  reproduced  by  a 
young  geologist  of  the  new  school,  were  as  follows : 

"  The  immense  crowd  gathered  within  these  walls, 
the  emotion  I  see  depicted  upon  every  face,  the  im- 
patience with  which  you  await  the  discussions  yet  to 
take  place,  all,  gentlemen,  would  lead  me  to  refrain 
from  laying  before  you  the  opinion  which  I  have 
formed  from  my  own  study  of  the  problem  which  now 
excites  the  interest  of  the  entire  world,  and  to  yield 
the  platform  to  those  gifted  with  an  imagination  or 
an  audacity  greater  than  mine.  For,  in  my  judgment, 
the  end  of  the  world  is  not  at  hand,  and  humanity 
will  have  to  wait  for  it  several  million  years  —  yes, 
gentlemen,  I  said  millions,  not  thousands. 


OMEGA  . 


"  You  see  that  I  am  at  this  moment  perfectly  calm,  and 
that,  too,  without  laying  any  claim  to  the  sang  froid 
of  Archimedes,  who  was  slain  by  a  Roman  soldier  at 
the  siege  of  Syracuse  while  calmly  tracing  geometric  fig- 
ures upon  the  sand.  Archimedes  knew  the  danger  and 
forgot  it ;  I  do  not  believe  in  any  danger  whatever. 

u  You  will  not  then  be  surprised  if  I  quietly  sub- 
mit to  you  the  theory  of  a  natural  end  of  the  world, 
by  the  gradual  levelling  of  the  continents  and  their  slow 
submergence  beneath  the  invading  waters ;  but  I  shall 
perhaps  do  better  to  postpone  for  a  week  this  explanation, 
as  I  do  not  for  an  instant  doubt  that  we  may  all,  or 
nearly  all,  reassemble  here  to  confer  together  upon  the 
great  epochs  of  the  natural  history  of  the  world." 

The  orator  paused  for  a  moment.  The  president  had  risen  : 
"  My  dear  and  honorable  colleague,"  he  said,  "  we  are  all  here 


to  listen  to  you. 
ic  of  the  last  few 
allayed,  and  it  is 
the  night  of  July 
like  its  predecess- 
we  are  more  than 
in  all  which  has 
this  great  problem 
to  no  one  with 
than  to  the  illus- 
the  classic  Treat- 


ARCHIMEDES. 


Happily,  the  pan- 
days  is  partially 
to  be  hoped  that 
13-14  will  pass 
ors.  Nevertheless, 
ever  interested 
any  bearing  upon 
and  we  shall  listen 
greater  pleasure 
trious  author  of 
ise  on  Geology." 


OMEGA.  77 

"  In  that  case,  gentlemen,"  resumed  the  president  of 
the  geological  society  of  France,  "  I  shall  explain  to 
you  what,  in  my  judgment,  will  be  the  natural  end 
of  the  world,  if,  as  is  probable,  nothing  disturbs  the 
present  course  of  events ;  for  accidents  are  rare  in  the 
cosmical  order. 

"Nature  does  not  proceed  by  sudden  leaps,  and  geol- 
ogists do  not  believe  in  such  revolutions  or  cata- 
clysms ;  for  they  have  learned  that  in  the  natural 
world  everything  is  subject  to  a  slow  process  of  evo- 
lution. The  geological  agents  now  at  work  are  per- 
manent ones. 

"  The  destruction  of  the  globe  by  some  great  catas- 
trophe is  a  dramatic  conception  ;  far  more  so,  certainly, 
than  that  of  the  action  of  the  forces  now  in  operation, 
though  they  threaten  our  planet  with  a  destruction 
equally  certain.  Does  not  the  stability  of  our  continent 
seem  permanent?  Hxcept  through  the  intervention  of 
some  new  agency,  how  is  it  possible  to  doubt  the  durabil- 
ity of  this  earth  which  has  supported  so  many  generations 
before  our  own,  and  whose  monuments,  of  the  greatest 
antiquity,  prove  that  if  they  have  come  down  to  us  in  a 
state  of  ruin,  it  is  not  because  the  soil  has  refused  to 
support  them,  but  because  they  have  suffered  from  the  rav- 
ages of  time  and  especially  from  the  hand  of  man  ?  The 
oldest  historical  traditions  show  us  rivers  flowing  in  the 
same  beds  as  today,  mountains  rising  to  the  same  height ;  and 


78  OMEGA. 

as  for  the  few  river-mouths  which  have  become  obstructed, 
the  few  land-slides  which  have  occurred  here  and  there, 
their  importance  is  so  slight  relatively  to  the  enormous  ex- 
tent of  the  continents,  that  it  seems  gratuitous  indeed  to 
seek  here  the  omens  of  a  final  catastrophe. 

"  Such  might  be  the  reasoning  of  one  who  casts  a  super- 
ficial and  indifferent  glance  upon  the  external  world.  But 
the  conclusions  of  one  accustomed  to  scrutinize  closely  the 
apparently  insignificant  changes  taking  place  about  him 
would  be  quite  different.  At  every  step,  however  little 
skilled  in  observation,  he  will  discover  the  traces  of  a  per- 
petual conflict  between  the  external  powers  of  nature  and 
all  which  rises  above  the  inflexible  level  of  the  ocean,  in 
whose  depths  reign  silence  and  repose.  Here,  the  sea 
beats  furiously  against  the  shore,  which  recedes  slowly 
from  century  to  century.  Elsewhere,  mountain  masses 
have  fallen,  engulfing  in  a  few  moments  entire  villages 
and  desolating  smiling  valleys.  Or,  the  tropical  rains,  as- 
sailing the  volcanic  cones,  have  furrowed  them  with  deep 
ravines  and  undermined  their  walls,  so  that  at  last  nothing 
but  ruins  of  these  giants  remain. 

"  More  silent,  but  not  less  efficacious,  has  been  the 
action  of  the  great  rivers,  as  the  Ganges  and  the  Missis- 
sippi, whose  waters  are  so  heavily  laden  with  solid  parti- 
cles in  suspension.  Each  of  these  small  particles,  which 
trouble  the  limpidity  of  their  liquid  carrier,  is  a  fragment 
torn  from  the  shores  washed  by  these  rivers.  Slowly  but 


OMEGA. 


i#  \ 


- 


THE  SKA  AT  WORK. 


8o 


OMEGA  . 


STREAM    EROSION. 


OMEGA.  8r 

surely  their  currents  bear  to  the  great  reservoir  of  the  sea 
every  atom  lost  to  the  soil,  and  the  bars  which  form  their 
deltas  are  as  nothing  compared  with  what  the  sea  receives 
and  hides  away  in  its  abysses.  How  can  any  reflecting 
person,  observing  this  action,  and  knowing  that  it  has 
been  going  on  for  many  centuries,  escape  the  conclusion 
that  the  rivers,  like  the  ocean,  are  indeed  preparing  the 
final  ruin  of  the  habitable  world  ? 

"Geology  confirms  this  conclusion  in  every  particular. 
It  shows  us  that  the  surface  of  the  soil  is  being  constantly 
altered  over  entire  continents  by  variations  of  temperature, 
by  alterations  of  drought  and  humidity,  of  freezing  and 
thawing,  as  also  by  the  incessant  action  of  worms  and  of 
plants.  Hence,  a  continuous  process  of  dissolution,  leading 
even  to  the  disintegration  of  the  most  compact  rocks,  re- 
ducing them  to  fragments  small  enough  to  yield  at  last 
to  the  attraction  of  gravity,  especially  when  this  is  aided 
by  running  water.  Thus  they  travel,  first  down  the  slopes 
and  along  the  torrent  beds,  where  their  angles  are  worn 
away  and  they  become  little  by  little  transformed  into 
gravel,  sand  and  ooze;  then  in  the  rivers  which  are  still 
able,  especially  at  flood-times,  to  carry  away  this  broken 
up  material,  and  to  bear  it  nearer  and  nearer  to  their 
outlets. 

"It  is  easy  to  predict  what  must  necessarily  be  the  final 
result  of  this  action.  Gravity,  always  acting,  will  not  be 
satisfied  until  every  particle  subject  to  its  law  has  attained 

•  6 


OMEGA  . 


AT  FLOOD-TIME. 


the  most  stable  position  conceivable.  Now,  such  will  be  the 
case  only  when  matter  is  in  the  lowest  position  possible. 
Every  surface,  must  therefore  disappear,  except  the  surface 
of  the  ocean,  which  is  the  goal  of  every  agency  of  motion  ; 
and  the  material  borne  away  from  the  crumbling  conti- 
nents must  in  the  end  be  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the 
sea.  In  brief,  the  final  outcome  will  be  the  complete  lev- 
elling of  the  land,  or,  more  exactly,  the  disappearance  of 
every  prominence  from  the  surface  of  the  earth. 


OMEGA.  83 

"  In  the  first  place,  we  readily  see  that  near  the  river 
mouths  the  final  form  of  the  dry  land  will  be  that  of  nearly 
horizontal  plains.  The  effect  of  the  erosion  produced  by 
running  water  will  be  the  formation  on  the  water-sheds  of 
a  series  of  sharp  ridges,  succeeded  by  almost  absolutely 
horizontal  plains,  between  which  no  final  difference  in 
height  greater  than  fifty  meters  can  exist. 

"  But  in  no  case  can  these  sharp  ridges,  which,  on  this 
hypothesis,  will  separate  the  basins,  continue  long ;  for 
gravity  and  the  action  of  the  wind,  filtration  and  change 
of  temperature,  will  soon  obliterate  them.  It  is  thus  legit- 
imate to  conclude  that  the  end  of  this  erosion  of  the  conti- 
nents will  be  their  reduction  to  an  absolute  level,  a  level 
differing  but  little  from  that  at  the  river  outlets." 

The  coadjutor  of  the  archbishop  of  Paris,  who  occupied 
a  seat  in  the  tribune  reserved  for  distinguished  function- 
aries, rose,  and,  as  the  orator  ceased  speaking,  added : 
"  Thus  will  be  fulfilled,  to  the  letter,  the  words  of  holy 
writ:  'For  the  mountains  shall  depart  and  the  hills  be 
removed.' " 

"  If,  then,"  resumed  the  geologist,  "  nothing  occurs  to 
modify  the  reciprocal  action  of  land  and  water,  we  cannot 
escape  the  conclusion  that  every  continental  elevation  is 
inevitably  destined  to  disappear. 

"  How  much  time  will  this  require  ? 

"  The  dry  land,  if  spread  out  in  a  layer  of  uniform 
thickness,  would  constitute  a  plateau  of  about  700  meters 


84  OMEGA. 

• 

altitude  above  the  sea-level.  Admitting  that  its  total  area 
is  145,000,000  square  kilometers,  it  follows  that  its  volume 
is  about  101,500,000,  or,  in  round  numbers,  100,000,000 
cubic  kilometers.  Such  is  the  large,  yet  definite  mass,  with 
which  the  external  agencies  of  destruction  must  contend. 
"  Taken  together,  the  rivers  of  the  world  may  be 
considered  as  emptying,  every  year,  into  the  sea  23,000 
cubic  kilometers  of  water  (in  other  words,  23,000  milliards 
of  cubic  meters).  This  would  give  a  volume  of  solid 
matter  carried  yearly  to  the  sea,  equal  to  10.43  cubic  kilo- 
meters, if  we  accept  the  established  ratio  of  thirty-eight 
parts  of  suspended  material  in  100,000  parts  of  water. 
The  ratio  of  this  amount  to  the  total  volume  of  the  dry 
land  is  one  to  9,730,000.  If  the  dry  land  were  a  level 
plateau  of  700  meters  altitude,  it  would  lose,  by  fluid 


THB  RIVERS   CEASE   TO   FLOW. 


OMEGA.  85 

erosion  alone,  a  slice  of  about  seven  one-hundredths  of  a 
millimeter  in  thickness  yearly,  or  one  millimeter  every 
fourteen  years — say  seven  millimeters  per  century. 

"  Here  we  have  a  definite  figure,  expressing  the  actual 
yearly  continental  erosion,  showing  that,  if  only  this 
erosion  were  to  operate,  the  entire  mass  of  unsubmerged 
land  would  disappear  in  less  than  10,000,000  years. 

"  But  rain  and  rivers  are  not  the  only  agencies ;  there 
are  other  factors  which  contribute  to  the  gradual  destruc- 
tion of  the  dry  land : 

"  First,  there  is  the  erosion  of  the  sea.  It  is  impossible 
to  select  a  better  example  of  this  than  the  Britannic  isles ; 
for  they  are  exposed,  by  their  situation,  to  the  onslaught 
of  the  Atlantic,  whose  billows,  driven  by  the  prevailing 
southwest  wind,  meet  with  no  obstacle  to  their  progress. 
Now,  the  average  recession  of  the  English  coast  is  cer- 
tainly less  than  three  meters  per  century.  L,et  us  apply 
this  rate  to  the  sea-coasts  of  the  world,  and  see  what  will 
happen. 

"  We  may  proceed  in  two  ways  :  First,  we  may  estimate 
the  loss  in  volume  for  the  entire  coast-line  of  the  world, 
on  the  basis  of  three  centimeters  per  year.  To  do  this, 
we  should  have  to  know  the  length  of  the  shore-line  and 
the  mean  height  of  the  coast.  The  former  is  about 
200,000  kilometers.  As  to  the  present  average  height  of 
the  coasts  above  the  sea,  100  meters  would  certainly  be  a 
liberal  estimate.  Hence,  a  recession  of  three  centimeters 


86  OMEGA. 

corresponds  to  an  annual  loss  of  three  cubic  meters  per 
running  meter,  or,  for  the  200,000  kilometers  of  coast-line, 
600,000,000  cubic  meters,  which  is  only  six-tenths  of  a 
cubic  kilometer.  In  other  words,  the  erosion  due  to  the 
sea  would  only  amount  to  one-seventeenth  that  of  the 
rivers. 

"  It  may  perhaps  be  objected,  that,  as  the  altitude 
actually  increases  from  the  coast-line  toward  the  interior, 
the  same  rate  of  recession  would,  in  time,  involve  a 
greater  loss  in  volume.  Is  this  objection  well  founded  ? 
No ;  for  the  tendency  of  the  rain  and  water-courses  being, 
as  we  have  said,  to  lower  the  surface-level,  this  action 
would  keep  pace  with  that  of  the  sea. 

"Again,  the  area  of  the  dry  land  being  145,000,000 
square  kilometers,  a  circle  of  equal  area  would  have  a 
radius  of  6800  kilometers.  But  the  circumference  of  this 
circle  would  be  only  40,000  kilometers ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
sea  could  exercise  upon  the  circle  but  one-fifth  the  erosive 
action  which  it  actually  does  upon  the  indented  outline  of 
our  shores.  We  may,  therefore,  admit  that  the  erosive 
action  of  the  sea  upon  the  dry  land  is  Jive  times  greater 
than  it  would  be  upon  an  equivalent  circular  area.  Cer- 
tainly this  estimate  is  a  maximum  ;  for  it  is  logical  to 
suppose  that,  when  the  narrow  peninsulas  have  been  eaten 
away  by  the  sea,  the  ratio  of  the  perimeter  to  the  surface 
will  decrease  more  and  more — that  is,  the  action  of  the 
sea  will  be  less  effective.  In  any  event,  since,  at  the  rate 


OMEGA.  87 

of  three  centimeters  per  year,  a  radius  of  6800  kilometers 
would  disappear  in  226,600,000  years,  one-fifth  of  this 
interval,  or  about  45,000,000  years,  would  represent  the 
minimum  time  necessary  for  the  destruction  of  the  land 
by  the  sea ;  this  would  correspond  to  an  intensity  of 
action  scarcely  more  than  one-fifth  that  of  the  rivers  and 
rain. 

"  Taken  together,  these  mechanical  causes  would,  there- 
fore, involve  every  year  a  loss  in  volume  of  twelve  cubic 
kilometers,  which,  for  a  total  of  100,000,000,  would  bring 
about  the  complete  submergence  of  the  dry  land  in  a  little 
more  than  8,000,000  years. 

"  But  we  are  far  from  having  exhausted  our  analysis  of  the 
phenomena  in  question.  Water  is  not  only  a  mechanical 
agent ;  it  is  also  a  powerful  dissolvent,  far  more  powerful 
than  we  might  suppose,  because  of  the  large  amount  of 
carbonic  acid  which  it  absorbs  either  from  the  atmos- 
phere or  from  the  decomposed  organic  matter  of  the  soil. 
All  subterranean  waters  become  charged  with  substances 


THE    NILE. 


88  OMEGA. 

which  it  has  thus  chemically  abstracted  from  the  minerals 
of  the  rocks  through  which  it  percolates. 

"  River  water  contains,  per  cubic  kilometer,  about  182 
tons  of  matter  in  solution.  The  rivers  of  the  world  bring 
yearly  to  the  sea,  nearly  five  cubic  kilometers  of  such 
matter.  The  annual  loss  to  the  dry  land,  therefore,  from 
these  various  causes,  is  seventeen  instead  of  twelve  cubic 
kilometers ;  so  that  the  total  of  100,000,000  would  disap- 
pear, not  in  eight,  but  in  a  little  less  than  six  million 
years. 

"  This  figure  must  be  still  further  modified.  For  we 
must  not  forget  that  the  sediment  thus  brought  to  the  sea 
and  displacing  a  certain  amount  of  water,  will  cause  a  rise 
of  the  sea-level,  accelerating  by  just  so  much  the  levelling 
process  due  to  the  wearing  away  of  the  continents. 

"It  is  easy  to  estimate  the  effect  of  this  new  factor. 
Indeed,  for  a  given  thickness  lost  by  the  plateau  heretofore 
assumed,  the  sea-level  must  rise  by  an  amount  correspond- 
ing to  the  volume  of  the  submarine  deposit,  which  must 
exactly  equal  that  of  the  sediment  brought  down.  Calcu- 
lation shows  that,  in  round  numbers,  the  loss  in  volume 
will  be  twenty-four  cubic  kilometers. 

"  Having  accounted  for  an  annual  loss  of  twenty-four 
cubic  kilometers,  are  we  now  in  a  position  to  conclude 
what  time  will  be  necessary  for  the  complete  disappear- 
ance of  the  dry  land,  always  supposing  the  indefinite 
continuance  of  present  conditions? 


OMEGA.  89 

"  Certainly,  gentlemen ;  for,  after  examining  the  objec- 
tion which  might  be  made  apropos  of  volcanic  eruptions, 
we  find  that  the  latter  aid  rather  than  retard  the  disinte- 
grating process. 

"We  believe,  therefore,  that  we  may  fearlessly  accept 
the  above  estimate  of  twenty-four  cubic  kilometers,  as  a 
basis  of  calculation ;  and  as  this  figure  is  contained 
4,166,666  times  in  100,000,000,  which  represents  the 
volume  of  the  continents,  we  are  authorized  to  infer  that 
under  the  sole  action  of  forces  now  in  operation,  provided 
no  other  movements  of  the  soil  occur,  the  dry  land  will 
totally  disappear  within  a  period  of  about  4,000,000  years. 

"  But  this  disappearance,  while  interesting  to  a  geologist 
or  a  thinker,  is  not  an  event  which  need  cause  the  present 
generation  any  anxiety.  Neither  our  children  nor  our 
grandchildren  will  be  in  a  position  to  detect  in  any  sensi- 
ble degree  its  progress. 

"  If  I  may  be  permitted,  therefore,  to  close  these 
remarks  with  a  somewhat  fanciful  suggestion,  I  will  add 
that  it  would  be  assuredly  the  acme  of  foresight  to  build 
today  a  new  ark,  in  which  to  escape  the  consequences  of 
this  coming  universal  deluge." 

Such  was  the  learnedly  developed  thesis  of  the  president 
of  the  geological  society  of  France.  His  calm  and 
moderate  statement  of  the  secular  action  of  natural  forces, 
opening  up  a  future  of  4,000,000  years  of  life,  had  allayed 
the  apprehension  excited  by  the  comet.  The  audience 


OMEGA. 


OMEGA.  p/ 

had  become  wonderfully  tranquillized.  No  sooner  had  the 
orator  left  the  platform  and  received  the  congratulations 
of  his  colleagues  than  an  animated  conversation  began  on 
every  side.  A  sort  of  peace  took  possession  of  every 
mind.  People  talked  of  the  end  of  the  world  as  they 
would  of  the  fall  of  a  ministry,  or  the  coming  of  the 
swallows — dispassionately  and  disinterestedly.  A  fatality 
put  off  40,000  centuries  does  not  really  affect  us  at  all. 

But  the  permanent  secretary  of  the  academy  of  meteo- 
rology had  just  ascended  the  tribune,  and  every  one  gave 
him  at  once  the  strictest  attention  : 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen  :  I  am  about  to  lay  before  you 
a  theory  diametrically  opposed  to  that  of  my  eminent 
colleague  of  the  Institute,  yet  based  upon  facts  no  less 
definite  and  a  process  of  reasoning  no  less  rigorous. 

"  Yes,  gentlemen,  diametrically  opposed  " — 

The  orator,  gifted  with  an  excellent  voice,  had  perceived 
the  disappointment  settling  upon  every  face. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  opposed,  not  as  regards  the  time  which 
nature  allots  to  the  existence  of  humanity,  but  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  world  will  come  to  an  end ;  for  I 
also  believe  in  a  future  of  several  million  years. 

"  Only,  instead  of  seeing  the  subsidence  and  complete 
submergence  of  the  land  beneath  the  invading  waters,  I 
foresee,  on  the  contrary,  death  by  drouth,  and  the  gradual 
diminution  of  the  present  water  supply  of  the  earth. 
Some  day  there  will  be  no  more  ocean,  no  more  clouds,  no 


92  OMEGA. 

more  rain,  no  more  springs,  no  more  moisture,  and  vegeta- 
ble as  well  as  animal  life  will  perish,  not  by  drowning,  but 
through  lack  of  water. 

"  On  the  earth's  surface,  indeed,  the  water  of  the  sea,  of 
the  rivers,  of  the  clouds,  and  of  the  springs,  is  decreasing. 
Without  going  far  in  search  of  examples,  I  would  remind 
you,  gentlemen,  that  in  former  times,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  quaternary  period,  the  site  now  occupied  by  Paris,  with 
its  9,000,000  of  inhabitants,  from  Mount  Saint-Germain  to 
Villeneuve-Saint-Georges,  was  almost  entirely  occupied  by 
water ;  only  the  hill  of  Passy  at  Montmartre  and  Pere- 
Lachaise,  and  the  plateau  of  Montrouge  at  the  Pantheon 
and  Villejuif  emerged  above  this  immense  liquid  sheet. 
The  altitudes  of  these  plateaus  have  not  increased,  there 
have  been  no  upheavals ;  it  is  the  water  which  has 
diminished  in  volume. 

"It  is  so  in  every  country  of  the  world,  and  the  cause  is 
easy  to  assign.  A  certain  quantity  of  water,  very  small,  it 
is  true,  in  proportion  to  the  whole,  but  not  negligable,  per- 
colates through  the  soil,  either  below  the  sea  bottoms  by 
crevices,  fissures  and  openings  due  to  submarine  eruptions, 
or  on  the  dry  land ;  for  not  all  the  rain  water  falls  upon 
impermeable  soil.  In  general,  that  which  is  not  evapo- 
rated, returns  to  the  sea  by  springs,  rivulets,  streams  and 
rivers;  but  for  this  there  must  be  a  bed  of  clay,  over 
which  it  may  follow  the  slopes.  Wherever  this  imper- 
meable soil  is  lacking,  it  continues  its  descent  by  infiltra- 


OMEGA.  93 

tion  and  saturates  the  rocks  below.  This  is  the  water 
encountered  in  quarries. 

"  This  water  is  lost  to  general  circulation.  It  enters 
into  chemical  combination  and  constitutes  the  hydrates. 
If  it  penetrates  far  enough,  it  attains  a  temperature  suffi- 
cient for  its  transformation  into  steam,  and  such  is  gener- 
ally the  origin  of  volcanoes  and  earthquakes.  But,  within 
the  soil,  as  in  the  open  air,  a  sensible  proportion  of  the 
water  in  circulation  becomes  changed  into  hydrates,  and 
even  into  oxides  ;  there  is  nothing  like  humidity  for  the 
rapid  formation  of  rust.  Thus  recombined,  the  elements 
of  water,  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  disappear  as  water.  Ther- 
mal waters  also  constitute  another  interior  system  of  circu- 
lation ;  they  are  derived  from  the  surface,  but  they  do  not 
return  there,  nor  to  the  sea.  The  surface  water  of  the 
earth,  either  by  entering  into  new  combinations,  or  by 
penetrating  the  lower  rock-strata,  is  diminishing,  and  it 
will  diminish  more  and  more  as  the  earth's  heat  is  dissi- 
pated. The  heat- wells  which  have  been  dug  within  a 
hundred  years,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  principal  cities 
of  the  world,  and  which  afford  the  heat  necessary  for 
domestic  purposes,  will  become  exhausted  as  the  internal 
temperature  diminishes.  The  day  will  come  when  the 
earth  will  be  cold  to  its  center,  and  that  day  will  be  coinci- 
dent with  an  almost  total  disappearance  of  water. 

"  For  that  matter,  gentlemen,  this  is  likely  to  be  the  fate 
of  several  bodies  in  our  solar  system.  Our  neighbor  the 


94  OMEGA. 


NO  MORE  WATER. 


moon,  whose  volume  and  mass  are  far  inferior  to  those  of 
the  earth,  has  grown  cold  more  rapidly,  and  has  traversed 
more  quickly  the  phases  of  its  astral  life ;  its  ancient 
ocean-beds,  on  which  we,  today,  recognize  the  indubitable 
traces  of  water  action,  are  entirely  dry ;  there  is  no  evi- 
dence of  any  kind  of  evaporation  ;  no  cloud  has  been  dis- 
covered, and  the  spectroscope  reveals  no  indication  of  the 
presence  of  the  vapor  of  water.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
planet  Mars,  also  smaller  than  the  earth,  has  beyond  a 
doubt  reached  a  more  advanced  phase  of  development,  and 
is  known  not  to  possess  a  single  body  of  water  worthy 
of  the  name  of  ocean,  but  only  inland  seas  of  medium 
extent  and  slight  depth,  united  with  each  other  by  canals. 
That  there  is  less  water  on  Mars  than  on  the  earth  is  a  fact 
proved  by  observation  ;  clouds  are  far  less  numerous,  the 
atmosphere  is  much  dryer,  evaporation  and  condensation 


OMEGA.  95 

take  place  with  greater  rapidity,  and  the  polar  snows 
show  variations,  depending  upon  the  season,  much  more  ex- 
tensive than  those  which  take  place  upon  the  earth.  Again, 
the  planet  Venus,  younger  than  the  earth,  is  surrounded 
by  an  immense  atmosphere,  constantly  filled  with  clouds. 
As  for  the  large  planet  Jupiter,  we  can  only  make  out,  as 
it  were,  an  immense  accumulation  of  vapors.  Thus,  the 
four  worlds  of  which  we  know  the  most,  confirm,  each  in 
its  own  way,  the  theory  of  a  secular  decrease  in  the 
amount  of  the  earth's  water. 

"  I  am  very  happy  to  say  in  this  connection  that  the 
theory  of  a  general  levelling  process,  maintained  by  my 
learned  colleague,  is  confirmed  by  the  present  condition  of 
the  planet  Mars.  That  eminent  geologist  told  us  a  few 
moments  ago,  that,  owing  to  the  continuous  action  of  riv- 
ers, plains  almost  horizontal  would  constitute  the  final 
form  of  the  earth's  surface.  That  is  what  has  already 
happened  in  the  case  of  Mars.  The  beaches  near  the  sea 
are  so  flat  that  they  are  easily  and  frequently  inundated,  as 
every  one  knows.  From  season  to  season  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  square  kilometers  are  alternately  exposed  or 
covered  by  a  thin  layer  of  water.  This  is  notably  the  case 
on  the  western  shores  of  the  Kaiser  sea.  On  the  moon  this 
levelling  process  has  not  taken  place.  There  was  not  time 
enough  for  it ;  before  its  consummation,  the  air,  the  wind 
and  the  water  had  vanished. 

"It  is  then  certain  that,  while  the  earth  is  destined  to 


96  OMEGA. 

undergo  a  process  of  levelling,  as  my  eminent  colleague 
has  so  clearly  explained,  it  will  at  the  same  time  gradually 
lose  the  water  which  it  now  possesses.  To  all  appearances, 
the  latter  process  is  now  going  on  more  rapidly  than  the 
former.  As  the  earth  loses  its  internal  heat  and  becomes 
cold,  crevasses  will  undoubtedly  form,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  moon.  The  complete  extinction  of  terrestrial  heat  will 
result  in  contractions,  in  the  formation  of  hollow  spaces  be- 
low the  surface,  and  the  contents  of  the  ocean  will  flow 
into  these  hollows,  without  being  changed  into  vapor, 
and  will  be  either  absorbed  or  combined  with  the  metal- 
lic rocks,  in  the  form  of  ferric  hydrates.  The  amount  of 
water  will  thus  go  on  diminishing  indefinitely,  and  finally 
totally  disappear.  Plants,  deprived  of  their  essential 
constituent,  will  become  transformed,  but  must  at  last 
perish. 

"  The  animal  species  will  also  become  modified,  but 
there  will  always  be  herbivora  and  carnivora,  and  the 
extinction  of  the  former  will  involve,  inevitably,  that  of 
the  latter ;  and  at  last,  the  human  race  itself,  notwithstand- 
ing its  power  of  adaption,  will  die  of  hunger  and  of  thirst, 
on  the  bosom  of  a  dried-up  world. 

"  I  conclude,  therefore,  gentlemen,  that  the  end  of  the 
world  will  not  be  brought  about  by  a  new  deluge,  but  by 
the  loss  of  its  water.  Without  water  terrestrial  life  is 
impossible ;  water  constitutes  the  chief  constituent  of 
every  living  thing.  It  is  present  in  the  human  body  in 


OMEGA.  97 

the  enormous  proportion  of  seventy  per  cent.  Without 
it,  neither  plants  nor  animals  can  exist.  Either  as  a 
liquid,  or  in  a  state  of  vapor,  it  is  the  condition  of  life. 
Its  suppression  would  be  the  death-warrant  of  human- 
it}',  and  this  death-warrant  nature  will  serve  upon  us  a 
dozen  million  years  hence.  I  will  add  that  this  will 
take  place  before  the  completion  of  the  erosion  explained 
by  the  president  of  the  geological  society  of  France ; 
for  he,  himself,  was  careful  to  note  that  the  period  of 
4,000,000  years  was  dependent  upon  the  hypothesis  that 
the  causes  now  in  operation  continued  to  act  as  they  do 
today  ;  and,  furthermore,  he,  himself,  admits  that  the  man- 
ifestations of  internal  energy  cannot  immediately  cease. 
Upheavals,  at  various  points,  will  occur  for  a  long  period, 
and  the  growth  of  the  land  area  from  such  causes  as  the 
formation  of  deltas,  and  volcanic  and  coral  islands,  will 
still  go  on  for  some  time.  The  period  which  he  indicated, 
therefore,  represents  only  the  minimum." 

Such  was  the  address  of  the  permanent  secretary  of  the 
academy  of  meteorology.  The  audience  had  listened  with 
the  deepest  attention  to  both  speakers,  and  it  was  evident, 
from  its  bearing,  that  it  was  fully  reassured  concerning 
the  fate  of  the  world  ;  it  seemed  even  to  have  altogether 
forgotten  the  existence  of  the  comet. 

"  The  president  of  the  physical  society  of  France  has 
the  floor." 

At  this  invitation,  a  young  woman,  elegantly  dressed 

7 


98 


OMEGA 


OMEGA.  99 

in   the  most   perfect   taste,    ascended   the    tribune. 

"  My  two  learned  colleagues,"  she  began,  without  fur- 
ther preamble,  "  are  both  right ;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is 
impossible  to  deny  that  meteorological  agents,  with  the 
assistance  of  gravity,  are  working  insensibly  to  level  the 
world,  whose  crust  is  ever  thickening  and  solidifying ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  amount  of  water  on  the  surface  of 
our  planet  is  decreasing  from  century  to  century.  These 
two  facts  may  be  considered  as  scientifically  established. 
But,  gentlemen,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the  end  of  the 
world  will  be  due  to  either  the  submergence  of  the  conti- 
nents, or  to  an  insufficient  supply  of  water  for  plant  and 
animal  life." 

This  new  declaration,  this  announcement  of  a  third 
hypothesis,  produced  in  the  audience  an  astonishment  bor- 
dering upon  stupor. 

"  Nor  do  I  believe,"  the  graceful  orator  hastened  to  add, 
"  that  the  final  catastrophe  can  be  set  down  to  the  comet, 
for  I  agree  with  my  two  eminent  predecessors,  that  worlds 
do  not  die  by  accident,  but  of  old  age. 

"  Yes,  doubtless,  gentlemen,"  she  continued,  "  the  water 
will  grow  less,  and,  perhaps,  in  the  end  totally  disappear ; 
yet,  it  is  not  this  lack  of  water  which  in  itself  will  bring 
about  the  end  of  things,  but  its  climatic  consequences. 
The  decrease  in  the  amount  of  aqueous  vapor  in  the 
atmosphere  will  lead  to  a  general  lowering  of  the  tem- 
perature, and  humanity  will  perish  with  cold. 


ioo  OMEGA. 

"  I  need  inform  no  one  here  that  the  atmosphere  we 
breathe  is  composed  of  seventy-nine  per  cent,  of  nitro- 
gen and  twenty  per  cent,  of  oxygen,  and  that  of  the  re- 
maining one  per  cent,  about  one-half  is  aqueous  vapor 
and  three  ten-thousandths  is  carbonic  acid,  the  remain- 
der being  ozone,  or  electrified  oxygen,  ammonia,  hydro- 
gen and  a  few  other  gases,  in  exceedingly  small  quanti- 
ties. Nitrogen  and  oxygen,  then,  form  ninety-nine  per 
cent,  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  vapor  of  water  one-half 
the  remainder. 

"  But,  gentlemen,  from  the  point  of  view  of  vege- 
table and  animal  life,  this  half  of  one  per  cent,  of 
aqueous  vapor  is  of  supreme  importance,  and  so  far  as 
temperature  and  climate  are  concerned,  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  assert  that  it  is  more  essential  than  all  the  rest  of  the 
atmosphere. 

"  The  heat  waves,  coming  from  the  sun  to  the  earth, 
which  warm  the  soil  and  are  thence  returned  and  scattered 
through  the  atmosphere  into  space,  in  their  passage 
through  the  air  meet  with  the  oxygen  and  nitrogen  atoms 
and  with  the  molecules  of  aqueous  vapor.  These  mole- 
cules are  so  thinly  scattered  (for  they  occupy  but  the 
hundredth  part  of  the  space  occupied  by  the  others),  that 
one  might  infer  that  the  retention  of  any  heat  whatever  is 
due  rather  to  the  nitrogen  and  oxygen  than  to  the 
aqueous  vapor.  Indeed,  if  we  consider  the  atoms  alone, 
we  find  two  hundred  oxygen  and  nitrogen  atoms  for 


OMEGA.  101 

one  of  aqueous  vapor.  Well,  this  one  atom  has  eigh- 
ty times  more  energy,  more  effective  power  to  retain 
radiant  heat,  than  the  two  hundred  others ;  consequently, 
a  molecule  of  the  vapor  of  water  is  16,000  times  more 
effective  than  a  molecule  of  dry  air,  in  absorbing  and  in 
radiating  heat — for  these  two  properties  are  reciprocally 
proportional. 

"  To  diminish  by  any  great  amount  the  number  of  these 
invisible  molecules  of  the  vapor  of  water,  is  to  immedi- 
ately render  the  earth  uninhabitable,  notwithstanding  its 
oxygen  ;  even  the  equatorial  and  tropical  regions  will  sud- 
denly lose  their  heat  and  will  be  condemned  to  the  cold  of 
mountain  summits  covered  with  perpetual  snow  and  frost : 
in  place  of  luxurious  plants,  of  flowers  and  fruits,  of  birds 
and  nests,  of  the  life  which  swarms  in  the  sea  and  upon 
the  land  ;  instead  of  murmuring  brooks  and  limpid  rivers, 
of  lakes  and  seas,  we  shall  be  surrounded  only  by  ice  in 
the  midst  of  a  vast  desert — -and  when  I  say  we,  gentlemen, 
you  understand  we  shall  not  linger  long  as  witnesses,  for 
the  very  blood  would  freeze  in  our  veins  and  arteries,  and 
every  human  heart  would  soon  cease  to  beat.  Such  would 
be  the  consequences  of  the  suppression  of  this  half  hun- 
dredth part  of  aqueous  vapor  which,  disseminated  through 
the  atmosphere,  beneficently  protects  and  preserves  all 
terrestrial  life  as  in  a  hot-house. 

"  The    principles    of    thermodynamics    prove    that    the 
temperature  of  space  is  273°  below  zero.  And  this,  gentle- 


t02 


OMEGA 


PRIMARY   VEGETATION  AT  THE  NORTH   POLE. 

men,  is  the  more  than  glacial  cold  in  which  our  planet 
will  sleep  when  it  shall  have  lost  this  airy  garment  in 
whose  sheltering  warmth  it  is  today  enwrapped.  Such  is 
the  fate  with  which  the  gradual  loss  of  the  earth's  water 
threatens  the  world,  and  this  death  by  cold  will  be 


OMEGA.  103 

inevitably  ours,  if  our  earthly  sojourn  is  long  enough. 
"  This  end  is  all  the  more  certain,  because  not  only  the 
aqueous  vapor  is  diminishing,  but  also  the  oxygen  and 
nitrogen,  in  brief,  the  entire  atmosphere.  L,ittle  by  little 
the  oxygen  becomes  fixed  in  the  various  oxides  which  are 
constantly  forming  on  the  earth's  surface ;  this  is  the  case 
also  with  the  nitrogen,  which  disappears  in  the  soil  and 
vegetation,  never  wholly  regaining  a  gaseous  state ;  and 
the  atmosphere  penetrates  by  its  weight  into  the  land  and 
sea,  descending  into  subterranean  depths.  Little  by  little, 
from  century  to  century,  it  grows  less.  Once,  as  for 
example  in  the  early  primary  period,  it  was  of  vast  extent ; 
the  earth  was  almost  wholly  covered  by  water,  only  the 
first  granite  upheavel  broke  the  surface  of  the  universal 
ocean,  and  the  atmosphere  was  saturated  with  a  quantity  of 
aqueous  vapor  immeasurably  greater  than  that  it  now  holds. 
This  is  the  explanation  of  the  high  temperature  of  those 
bygone  days,  when  the  tropical  plants  of  our  time,  the 
tree  ferns,  such  as  the  calamites,  the  equisetacese,  the 
sigillaria  and  the  lepidodendrons  flourished  as  luxuriously 
at  the  poles  as  at  the  equator.  Today,  both  the  atmos- 
phere and  aqueous  vapor  have  considerably  diminished  in 
amount.  In  the  future  they  are  destined  to  disappear. 
Jupiter,  which  is  still  in  its  primary  period,  possesses  an 
immense  atmosphere  full  of  vapors.  The  moon  does  not 
appear  to  have  any  at  all,  so  that  the  temperature  is  al- 
ways below  the  freezing  point,  even  in  the  sunlight, 


104  O  M  E  G  A  . 

and  the  atmosphere  of  Mars  is  sensibly  rarer  than  ours. 

"As  to  the  time  which  must  elapse  before  this  reign  of 
cold  caused  by  the  diminution  of  the  aqueous  atmosphere 
which  surrounds  the  globe,  I  also  would  adopt  the  period 
of  10,000,000  years,  as  estimated  by  the  speaker  who  pre- 
ceded me.  Such,  ladies,  are  the  stages  of  world-life  which 
nature  seems  to  have  marked  out,  at  least  for  the  planetary 
system  to  which  we  belong.  I  conclude,  therefore,  that 
the  fate  of  the  earth  will  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  moon, 
and  that  when  it  loses  the  airy  garment  which  now  guar- 
antees it  against  the  loss  of  the  heat  received  from  the  sun, 
it  will  perish  with  cold." 

At  this  point  the  chancellor  of  the  Columbian  academy, 
who  had  come  that  very  day  from  Bogota  by  an  elcetric 
air-ship  to  participate  in  the  discussion,  requested  permis- 
sion to  speak.  It  was  known  that  he  had  founded  on  the 
very  equator  itself,  at  an  enormous  altitude,  an  observatory 
overlooking  the  entire  planet,  from  which  one  might  see 
both  the  celestial  poles  at  the  same  time,  and  which  he 
had  named  in  honor  of  a  French  astronomer  who  had 
devoted  his  whole  life  to  making  known  his  favorite 
science  and  to  establishing  its  great  philosophical  import- 
ance. He  was  received  with  marked  sympathy  and 
attention. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  on  reaching  the  desk,  "  in  these 
two  sessions  we  have  had  an  admirable  resume  of  the  curi- 
ous theories  which  modern  science  is  in  a  position  to  offer  us, 


OMEGA.  TOS 

upon  the  various  ways  in  which  our  world  may  come  to  an 
end.  The  burning  of  the  atmosphere,  or  suffocation  caused 
by  the  shock  of  the  rapidly  approaching  comet ;  the 
submergence  of  the  continents  in  the  far  future  beneath 
the  sea ;  the  drying  up  of  the  earth  as  a  result  of  the 
gradual  loss  of  its  water ;  and  finally,  the  freezing  of  our 
unhappy  planet,  grown  old  as  the  decaying  and  frozen 
moon.  Here,  if  I  mistake  not,  are  five  distinct  possible 
ends. 


PERISHING   FROM   COLD. 


to6  OMEGA. 

"  The  director  of  the  observatory  has  announced  that  he 
does  not  believe  in  the  first  two,  and  that  in  his  opinion  a 
collison  with  the  comet  will  have  only  insignificant  results. 
I  agree  with  him  in  every  respect,  and  I  now  wish  to  add, 
after  listening  attentively  to  the  learned  addresses  of  my 
distinguished  colleagues,  that  I  do  not  believe  in  the  other 
three  either. 

"  L,adies,"  continued  the  Columbian  astronomer,  "  you 
know  as  well  as  we  do  that  nothing  is  eternal.  In  the 
bosom  of  nature  all  is  change.  The  buds  of  the  spring 
burst  into  flowers,  the  flowers  in  their  turn  become  fruit, 
the  generations  succeed  each  other,  and  life  accomplishes 
its  mission.  So  the  world  which  we  inhabit  will  have  its 
end  as  it  has  had  its  beginning,  but  neither  the  comet,  nor 
water,  nor  the  lack  of  water  are  to  cause  its  death  agony. 
To  my  mind  the  whole  question  hangs  upon  a  single  word 
in  the  closing  sentence  of  the  very  remarkable  address 
which  has  just  been  made  by  our  gracious  colleague,  the 
president  of  the  physical  society. 

"  The  sun  !     Yes,  here  is  the  key  to  the  whole  problem. 

"  Terrestrial  life  depends  upon  its  rays.  I  say  depends 
upon  them — life  is  a  form  of  solar  energy.  It  is  the  sun 
which  maintains  water  in  a  liquid  state,  and  the  atmos- 
phere in  a  gaseous  one  ;  without  it  all  would  be  solid  and 
lifeless ;  it  is  the  sun  which  draws  water  from  the  sea,  the 
lakes,  the  rivers,  the  moist  soil ;  which  forms  the  clouds 
and  sets  the  air  in  motion  ;  which  produces  rain  and  con- 


OMEGA.  to? 

trols  the  fruitful  circulation  of  the  water ;  thanks  to  the 
solar  light  and  heat,  the  plants  assimilate  the  carbon  con- 
tained in  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  atmosphere,  and  in  sepa- 
rating- the  oxygen  from  the  carbon  and  appropriating  the 
latter  the  plant  performs  a  great  work  ;  to  this  conversion 
of  solar  into  vital  energy,  as  well  as  to  the  shade  of  the 
thick-leaved  trees,  is  due  the  freshness  of  the  forests ;  the 
wood  which  blazes  on  our  hearthstones  does  but  render  up 
to  us  its  store  of  solar  heat,  and  when  we  consume  gas  or 
coal  today,  we  are  only  setting  free  the  rays  imprisoned 
millions  of  years  ago  in  the  forests  of  the  primary  age. 
Electricity  itself  is  but  a  form  of  energy  whose  original 
source  is  the  sun.  It  is,  then,  the  sun  which  murmurs  in 
the  brook,  which  whispers  in  the  wind,  which  moans  in 
the  tempest,  which  blossoms  in  the  rose,  which  trills 
in  the  throat  of  the  nightingale,  which  gleams  in  the 
lightning,  which  thunders  in  the  storm,  which  sings  or 
wails  in  the  vast  symphony  of  nature. 

"  Thus  the  solar  heat  is  changed  into  air  or  water 
currents,  into  the  expansive  force  of  gases  and  vapors,  into 
electricity,  into  woods,  flowers,  fruits  and  muscular  energy. 
So  long  as  this  brilliant  star  supplies  us  with  sufficient 
heat  the  continuance  of  the  world  and  of  life  is  assured. 

"  The  probable  cause  of  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  the  con- 
densation of  the  nebula  in  which  this  central  body  of  our 
system  had  its  origin.  This  conversion  of  mechanical 
energy  must  have  produced  28,000,000  degrees  centigrade. 


jo8  OMEGA. 

You  know  gentlemen,  that  a  kilogram  of  coal,  falling  from 
an  infinite  distance  to  the  sun,  would  produce,  by  its 
impact,  six  thousand  times  more  heat  than  by  its  combus- 
tion. At  the  present  rate  of  radiation,  this  supply  of  heat 
accounts  for  the  emission  of  thermal  energy  for  a  period 
of  22,000,000  years,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  sun  has 
been  burning  far  longer,  for  there  is  nothing  to  prove 
that  the  elements  of  the  nebula  were  absolutely  cold  ;  on 
the  contrary  they  themselves  were  originally  a  source  of 
heat.  The  temperature  of  this  great  day-star  does  not  seem 
to  have  fallen  any  ;  for  its  condensation  is  still  going  on, 
and  it  may  make  good  the  loss  by  radiation.  Nevertheless, 
everything  has  an  end.  If  at  some  future  stage  of  con- 
densation the  sun's  density  should  equal  that  of  the  earth, 
this  condensation  would  yield  a  fresh  amount  of  heat  suf- 
ficient to  maintain  for  17,000,000  years  the  same  temperature 
which  now  sustains  terrestrial  life,  and  this  period  may  be 
prolonged  if  we  admit  a  diminution  in  the  rate  of  radiation, 
a  fall  of  meteorites,  or  a  further  condensation  resulting  in 
a  density  greater  than  that  of  the  earth.  But,  however 
far  we  put  off  the  end,  it  must  come  at  last.  The  suns 
which  are  extinguished  in  the  heavens,  offer  so  many 
examples  of  the  fate  reserved  for  our  own  luminary  ;  and 
in  certain  years  such  tokens  of  death  are  numerous. 

"  But  in  that  long  period  of  seventeen  or  twenty  million 
years,  or  more,  who  can  say  what  the  marvellous  power  of 
adaptation,  which  physiology  and  paleontology  have  re- 


OMEGA.  709 

vealed  in  every  variety  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  may 
not  do  for  humanity,  leading  it,  step  by  step,  to  a  state  of 
physical  and  intellectual  perfection  as  far  above  ours,  as 
ours  is  above  that  of  the  ignuanodon,  the  stegosaurus  and 
the  compsognathus  ?  Who  can  say  that  our  fossil  remains 
will  not  appear  to  our  successors  as  monstrous  as  those  of 
the  dinosaurus  ?  Perhaps  the  stability  of  temperature  of 
that  future  time  may  make  it  seem  doubtful  whether  any 
really  intelligent  race  could  have  existed  in  an  epoch  sub- 
jected, as  ours  is,  to  such  erratic  variations  of  temperature, 
to  the  capricious  changes  of  weather  which  characterize 
our  seasons.  And,  who  knows  if  before  that  time  some 
immense  cataclysm,  some  general  change  may  not  bury 
the  past  in  new  geological  strata  and  inaugurate  new  per- 
iods, quinquennial,  sexsennial,  differing  totally  from  the 
preceding  ones  ? 

"  One  thing  is  certain,  that  the  sun  will  finally  lose  its 
heat ;  it  is  condensing  and  contracting,  and  its  fluidity  is 
decreasing.  The  time  will  come  when  the  circulation, 
which  now  supplies  the  photosphere,  and  makes  the  cen- 
tral mass  a  reservoir  of  radiant  energy,  will  be  obstructed 
and  will  slacken.  The  radiation  of  heat  and  light  will 
then  diminish,  and  vegetable  and  animal  life  will  be  more 
and  more  restricted  to  the  earth's  equatorial  regions. 
When  this  circulation  shall  have  ceased,  the  brilliant  pho- 
tosphere will  be  replaced  by  a  dark  opaque  crust  which 
will  prevent  all  luminous  radiation.  The  sun  will  become 


7io  OMEGA. 

a  dark  red  ball,  then  a  black  one,  and  night  will  be 
perpetual.  The  moon,  which  shines  only  by  reflection, 
will  no  longer  illumine  the  lonely  nights.  Our  planet 
will  receive  no  light  but  that  of  the  stars.  The  solar 
heat  having  vanished,  the  atmosphere  will  remain  un- 
disturbed, and  an  absolute  calm,  unbroken  by  any  breath 
of  air,  will  reign. 

"  If  the  oceans  still  exist  they  will  be  frozen  ones,  no 
evaporation  will  form  clouds,  no  rain  will  fall,  no  stream 
will  flow.  Perhaps,  as  has  been  observed  in  the  case  of 
stars  on  the  eve  of  extinction,  some  last  flare  of  the  expir- 
ing torch,  some  accidental  development  of  heat,  due  to  the 
falling  in  of  the  sun's  crust,  will  give  us  back  for  a  while 
the  old-time  sun,  but  this  will  only  be  the  precursor  of  the 
end  ;  and  the  earth,  a  dark  ball,  a  frozen  tomb,  will  con- 
tinue to  revolve  about  the  black  sun',  travelling  through 
an  endless  night  and  hurrying  away  with  all  the  solar  sys- 
tem into  the  abyss  of  space.  //  is  to  the  extinction  of  the 
sun  that  the  earth  will  owe  its  death,  twenty,  perhaps  forty 
million  years  hence" 

The  speaker  ceased,  and  wras  about  to  leave  the  platform, 
when  the  director  of  the  academy  of  fine  arts  begged  to 
be  heard  : 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  from  his  chair,  "  if  I  have  under- 
stood rightly,  the  end  of  the  world  will  in  any  case  result 
from  cold,  and  only  several  million  years  hence.  If,  then, 
a  painter  should  endeavor  to  represent  the  last  day,  he 


O  ME  G  A  .  in 


A  WORLD  OF  ICE. 


ought  to  shroud  the  earth  in  ice,  and  cover  it  with 
skeletons." 

"  Not  exactly,"  replied  the  Columbian  chancellor.  "  It 
is  not  cold  which  produces  glaciers, — it  is  heat. 

"  If  the  sun  did  not  evaporate  the  sea  water  there  would 
be  no  clouds,  and  but  for  the  sun  there  would  be  no  wind. 
For  the  formation  of  glaciers  a  sun  is  necessary,  to  vapor- 
ize the  water  and  to  transport  it  in  clouds  and  then  to 
condense  it.  Every  kilogram  of  vapor  formed  represents 
a  quantity  of  solar  heat  sufficient  to  raise  five  kilograms 
of  cast-iron  to  its  fusing  point  (no0).  By  lessening  the 
intensity  of  the  sun's  action  we  exhaust  the  glacier 
supply. 

"  So  that  it  is  not  the  snow,  nor  the  glaciers  which  will 
cover  the  earth,  but  the  frozen  remnant  of  the  sea.  For  a 
long  time  previously  streams  and  rivers  will  have  ceased 
to  exist  and  every  atmospheric  current  will  have  disap- 


ii2  OMEGA. 

peared,  unless  indeed,  before  giving  up  the  ghost,  the  sun 
shall  have  passed  through  one  of  those  spasms  to  which 
we  referred  a  moment  ago,  shall  have  released  the  ice  from 
sleep  and  have  produced  new  clouds  and  aerial  currents, 
re-awakened  the  springs,  the  brooks  and  the  rivers,  and 
after  this  momentary  but  deceitful  awakening,  shall  have 
fallen  back  again  into  lethargy.  That  day  will  have  no 
morrow." 

Another  voice,  that  of  a  celebrated  electrician,  was  heard 
from  the  center  of  the  hemicycle. 

"  All  these  theories  of  death  by  cold,"  he  observed,  u  are 
plausible.  But  the  end  of  the  world  by  fire  ?  This  has 
been  referred  to  only  in  connection  with  the  comet.  It 
may  happen  otherwise. 

"  Setting  aside  a  possible  sinking  of  the  continents  into 
the  central  fire,  brought  about  by  an  earthquake  on  a  large 
scale,  or  some  widespread  dislocation  of  the  earth's  crust, 
it  seems  to  me  that,  without  any  collision,  a  superior  will 
might  arrest  our  planet  midway  in  its  course  and  transform 
its  motion  into  heat." 

"A  will?"  interrupted  another  voice.  "But  positive 
science  does  not  admit  the  possibility  of  miracles  in 
nature." 

"  Nor  I,  either,"  replied  the  electrician.  "When  I  say 
'will,'  I  mean  an  ideal,  invisible  force.  Let  me  explain. 

"  The  earth  is  flying  through  space  with  a  velocity  of 
106,000  kilometers  per  hour,  or  29,460  meters  per  second. 


OMEGA.  113 

If  some  star,  active  or  extinct,  should  emerge  from  space, 
so  as  to  form  with  the  sun  a  sort  of  electro-dynamic  couple 
with  our  planet  on  its  axis,  acting  upon  it  like  a  brake — 
if,  in  a  word,  for  any  reason,  the  earth  should  be  suddenly 
arrested  in  its  orbit,  its  mechanical  energy  would  be 
changed  into  molecular  motion,  and  its  temperature  would 
be  suddenly  raised  to  such  a  degree  as  to  reduce  it  entirely 
to  a  gaseous  state." 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  director  of  the  Mont  Blanc  obser- 
vatory, from  his  chair,  "  the  earth  might  perish  by  fire  in 
still  another  manner.  We  have  lately  seen  in  the  sky  a 
temporary  star  which,  in  a  few  weeks,  passed  from  the  six- 
teenth to  the  fourth  magnitude.  This  distant  sun  had 
suddenly  become  50,000  times  hotter  and  more  luminous. 
If  such  a  fate  should  overtake  our  sun,  nothing  living 
would  be  left  upon  our  planet.  It  is  probable,  from  the 
study  of  the  spectrum  of  the  light  emitted  by  this  burn- 
ing star,  that  the  cause  of  this  sudden  conflagration  was 
the  entrance  of  this  sun  and  its  system  into  some  kind  of 
nebula.  Our  own  sun  is  travelling  with  a  frightful  veloc- 
ity in  the  direction  of  the  constellation  of  Hercules,  and 
may  very  well  some  day  encounter  an  obstacle  of  this 
nature." 

"  To  resume,"  continued  the  director  of  the  Paris  obser- 
vatory, "  after  all  we  have  just  now  heard,  we  see  that  our 
planet  will  be  at  a  loss  to  choose  among  so  many  modes 
of  death.  I  have  as  little  fear  now  as  before  of  any  danger 


H4  OMEGA. 

from  the  present  comet.  But  it  must  be  confessed  that, 
solely  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  astronomer,  this  poor, 
wandering  earth  is  exposed  to  more  than  one  peril.  The 
child  born  into  this  world,  and  destined  to  reach  the  age 
of  maturity,  may  be  compared  to  a  person  stationed  at  the 
entrance  to  a  narrow  street,  one  of  those  picturesque 
streets  of  the  sixteenth  century,  lined  with  houses  at  whose 
every  window  is  a  marksman  armed  with  a  good  weapon 
of  the  latest  model.  This  person  must  traverse  the  entire 
length  of  the  street,  without  being  stricken  down  by  the 
weapons  levelled  upon  him  at  close  range.  Every  disease 
which  lies  in  wait  and  threatens  us,  is  on  hand  :  dentition, 
convulsion,  croup,  meningitis,  measles,  smallpox,  typhoid 
fever,  pneumonia,  enteritis,  brain  fever,  heart  disease,  con- 
sumption, diabetes,  apoplexy,  cholera,  influenza,  etc.,  etc., 
for  we  omit  many,  and  our  hearers  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  supplementing  this  ofthand  enumeration.  Will  our 
unhappy  traveller  reach  the  end  of  the  street  safe  and 
sound  ?  If  he  does,  it  will  only  be  to  die,  just  the  same. 

"Thus  our  planet  pursues  its  way  along  its  heavenly 
path,  with  a  speed  of  more  than  100,000  kilometers  per 
hour,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  sun  hurries  it  on,  with  all 
the  planets,  toward  the  constellation  of  Hercules.  Reca- 
pitulating what  has  just  been  said,  and  allowing  for  what 
may  have  been  omitted :  it  may  meet  a  comet  ten  or 
twenty  times  larger  than  itself,  composed  of  deleterious 
gases  which  would  render  the  atmosphere  irrespirable ;  it 


OMEGA.  7/5 

may  encounter  a  swarm  of  uranolites,  which  would  have 
upon  it  the  effect  of  a  charge  of  shot  upon  a  meadow  lark  • 
it  may  meet  in  its  path  an  invisible  sun,  much  larger  than 
itself,  whose  shock  would  reduce  it  to  vapor ;  it  may 
encounter  a  sun  which  would  consume  it  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  as  a  furnace  would  consume  an  apple  thrown 
into  it ;  it  may  be  caught  in  a  system  of  electric  forces, 
which  would  act  like  a  brake  upon  its  eleven  motions,  and 
which  would  either  melt  it,  or  set  it  afire,  like  a  platinum 
wire  in  a  strong  current ;  it  may  lose  the  oxygen  which 
supports  life ;  it  may  be  blown  up  like  the  crust  over  a 
crater ;  it  may  collapse  in  some  great  earthquake ;  its  dry 


LIKE  A  CHARGE  OF  SHOT  UPON  A  MEADOW  LARK.' 


n6  OMEGA. 

land  may  disappear,  in  a  second  deluge,  more  universal 
than  the  first ;  it  may,  on  the  contrary,  lose  all  its  water, 
an  element  essential  to  its  organic  life ;  under  the  attrac- 
tion of  some  passing  body,  it  may  be  detached  from  the 
sun  and  carried  away  into  the  cold  of  stellar  space  ;  it  may 
part,  not  only  with  the  last  vestige  of  its  internal  heat, 
which  long  since  has  ceased  to  have  any  influence  upon  its 
surface,  but  also  with  the  protecting  envelope  which  main- 
tains the  temperature  necessary  to  life ;  one  of  these  days, 
when  the  sun  has  grown  dark  and  cold,  it  may  be  neither 
lighted,  nor  warmed,  nor  fertilized ;  on  the  other  hand,  it 
may  be  suddenly  scorched  by  an  outburst  of  heat,  analo- 
gous to  what  has  been  observed  in  temporary  stars ;  not  to 
speak  of  many  other  sources  of  accidents  and  mortal  peril, 
whose  easy  enumeration  we  leave  to  the  geologists  paleon- 
tologists, meteorologists,  physicists,  chemists,  biologists, 
physicians,  botanists,  and  even  to  the  veterinary  surgeons, 
inasmuch  as  the  arrival  of  an  army  of  invisible  microbes, 
if  they  be  but  deadly  enough,  or  a  well-established  epi- 
demic, would  suffice  to  destroy  the  human  race  and  the 
principal  animal  and  vegetable  species,  without  working 
the  least  harm  to  the  planet  itself,  from  a  strictly  astronom- 
ical point  of  view." 

Just  as  the  speaker  was  uttering  these  last  words,  a  voice, 
which  seemed  to  come  from  a  distance,  fell,  as  it  were, 
from  the  ceiling  overhead.  But  a  few  words  of  explana- 
tion may  here  perhaps  be  desirable. 


OMEGA.  i  if 

As  we  have  said,  the  observatories  established  on  the 
higher  mountains  of  the  globe  were  connected  by  tele- 
phone, with  the  observatory  of  Paris,  and  the  sender  of  the 
message  could  be  heard  at  a  distance  from  the  receiver, 
without  being  obliged  to  apply  any  apparatus  directly  to 
the  ear.  The  reader  doubtless  recollects  that,  at  the  close 
of  the  preceding  session,  a  phonogram  from  Mt.  Gaurisan- 
kar  stated  that  a  photophonic  message,  which  would  be  at 
once  deciphered,  had  been  received  from  the  inhabitants 
of  Mars.  As  the  translation  of  this  cipher  had  not  arrived 
at  the  opening  of  the  evening  session,  the  bureau  of  com- 
munications had  connected  the  Institute  with  the  observa- 
tory by  suspending  a  telephonoscope  from  the  dome  of*  the 
amphitheater. 

The  voice  from  above  said  : 

"  The  astronomers  of  the  equatorial  city  of  .Mars  warn 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  that  the  comet  is  moving 
directly  toward  the  earth  with  a  velocity  nearly  double 
that  of  the  orbital  velocity  of  Mars.  Mechanical  motion 
to  be  transformed  into  heat,  and  heat  into  electrical  energy. 
Terrible  magnetic  storms.  Move  away  from  Italy." 

The  voice  ceased  amid  general  silence  and  consterna- 
tion. There  were,  however,  a  few  sceptics  left,  one  of 
whom,  editor  of  La  Libre  Critique,  raising  his  monocle  to 
his  right  eye,  had  risen  from  the  reporters  desk  and  had 
exclaimed  in  a  penetrating  voice  : 

"  I  am  afraid  that  the  venerable  doctors  of  the  Institute 


ti8 


OMEGA. 


are  the  victims  of  a  huge  joke.  No  one  can  ever  persuade 
me  that  the  inhabitants  of  Mars — admitting  that  there  are 
any  and  they  have  really  sent  us  a  warning — know  Italy 
by  name.  I  doubt  very  much  if  one  of  them  ever  heard 
of  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar  or  the  History  of  the 
Popes,  especially  as  " — 

The  orator,  who  was  launching  into  an  interesting  dith- 
yrambus,  was  at  this  point  suddenly  squelched  by  the 
turning  off  of  the  electric  lights.  With  the  exception  of 
the  illuminated  square  in  the  ceiling,  the  room  was  plunged 
in  darkness  and  the  voice  added  these  six  words  :  "  This 
is  the  despatch  from  Mars  ; "  and  thereupon  the  following 
symbols  appeared  on  the  plate  of  the  telephonoscope  : 


As  this  picture  could  only  be  seen  by  holding  the  head 
in  a  very  fatiguing  position,  the  president  touched  a  bell 
and  an  assistant  appeared,  who  by  means  of  a  projector  and 


OMEGA,  ng 

mirror  transferred  these  hieroglyphics  to  a  screen  on  the 
wall  behind  the  desk,  so  that  every  one  could  readily  see 
and  analyze  them  at  their  leisure.  Their  interpretation 
was  easy  ;  nothing  indeed  could  be  more  simple.  The 
figure  representing  the  comet  needed  no  explanation.  The 
arrow  indicates  the  motion  of  the  cornet  towards  a  heav- 
enly body,  which  as  seen  from  Mars  presents  phases,  and 
sparkles  like  a  star  ;  this  means  the  earth,  naturally  so 
delineated  by  the  Martians,  for  their  eyes,  developed  in  a 
medium  less  luminous  than  ours,  are  somewhat  more  sensi- 
tive and  distinguish  the  phases  of  the  Earth,  and  this  the 
more  readily  because  their  atmosphere  is  rarer  and  more 
transparent.  (For  us  the  phases  of  Venus  are  just  on  the 
limit  of  visibility.)  The  double  globe  represents  Mars 
looking  at  the  Kaiser  sea,  the  most  characteristic  feature 
of  Martian  geography,  and  indicates  a  velocity  for  the 
comet  double  the  orbital  velocity,  or  a  little  less,  for  the 
line  does  not  quite  reach  the  edge.  The  flames  indicate 
the  transformation  of  motion  into  heat ;  the  aurora  boreal  is 
and  the  lightning  which  follow,  the  transformation  into 
electric  and  magnetic  force.  Finally,  we  recognize  the 
boot  of  Italy,  visible  from  Mars,  and  the  black  spot  marks 
the  locality  threatened,  according  to  their  calculation,  by 
one  of  the  most  dangerous  fragments  of  the  head  of  the 
comet;  while  the  four  arrows  radiating  in  the  direction  of 
the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  compass  seem  to  counsel 
removal  from  the  point  menaced. 


120  OMEGA. 

The  photophonic  message  from  the  Martians  was 
much  longer  and  far  more  complicated.  The  astronomers 
on  Mt.  Gaurisankar  had  previously  received  several  such, 
and  had  discovered  that  they  were  sent  from  a  very  im- 
portant, intellectual  and  scientific  center  situated  in  the 
equatorial  zone  not  far  from  Meridian  bay.  The  last 
message,  whose  general  meaning  is  given  above,  was  the 
most  important.  The  remainder  of  it  had  not  been  trans- 
mitted, as  it  was  obscure  and  it  was  not  certain  that  its 
exact  meaning  had  been  made  out. 

The  president  rang  his  bell  for  order.  He  was  about  to 
sum  up  what  had  been  said,  before  adjourning  the  meeting. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  began,  "  although  it  is  after  midnight, 
it  will  be  of  interest,  before  we  separate,  to.  summarize 
what  has  been  told  us  in  these  two  solemn  sessions. 

"  The  last  despatch  from  Gaurisankar  may  well  impress 
you.  It  seems  clear  that  the  inhabitants  of  Mars  are 
farther  advanced  in  science  than  ourselves,  and  this  is  not 
surprising,  for  they  are  a  far  older  race  and  have  had 
centuries  innumerable  in  which  to  achieve  this  progress. 
Moreover,  they  may  be  much  more  highly  organized  than 
we  are,  they  may  possess  better  eyes,  instruments  of 
greater  perfection,  and  intellectual  faculties  of  a  higher 
order.  We  observe,  too,  that  their  calculations,  while  in 
accord  with  ours  as  to  the  collision,  are  more  precise,  for 
they  designate  the  very  point  which  is  to  receive  the 
greatest  shock.  The  advice  to  flee  from  Italy  should 


OMEGA.  121 

therefore  be  followed,  and  I  shall  at  once  telephone  the 
Pope,  who  at  this -very  moment  is  assembling  the  prelates 
of  entire  Christendom. 

"  So  the  comet  will  collide  with  the  earth,  and  no  one 
can  yet  foresee  the  consequences.  But  in  all  probability 
the  disturbance  will  be  local  and  the  world  will  not  be 
destroyed.  The  carbonic-oxide  is  not  likely  to  penetrate 
the  respirable  portions  of  the  atmosphere,  but  there  will  be 
an  enormous  development  of  heat. 

"As  to  the  veritable  end  of  the  world,  of  all  the 
hypotheses  which  today  permit  us  to  forecast  that  event 
the  most  probable  is  the  last — that  explained  to  us  by  the 
learned  chancellor  of  the  Columbian  academy  :  the  life  of 
the  planet  depends  upon  the  sun ;  so  long  as  the  sun 
shines  humanity  is  safe,  unless  indeed  the  diminution  of 
the  atmosphere  and  aqueous  vapor  should  usher  in  before 
that  time  the  reign  of  cold.  In  the  former  case  we  have 
yet  before  us  twenty  million  years  of  life  ;  in  the  latter 
only  ten. 

"Let  us  then  await  the  night  of  July  13-14  without 
despair.  I  advise  those  who  can  to  pass  these  fete  days  in 
Chicago,  or  better  still  in  San  Francisco,  Honolulu  or 
Noumea.  The  trans-Atlantic  electric  air-ships  are  so 
numerous  and  well  managed  that  millions  of  travellers 
may  make  the  journey  before  Saturday  night." 


THE   LAST  JUDGMENT. 

(From  the  ceiling  of  the  Sistiue  Chapel.) 


CHAPTER   V. 

WHILE  the  above  scientific  discussions  were  taking  place 
at  Paris,  meetings  of  a  similar  character  were  being  held 
at  London,  Chicago,  St.  Petersburg,  Yokohama,  Melbourne, 
New  York,  and  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  world,  in 
which  every  effort  was  made  to  throw  light  upon  the  great 


OMEGA.  123 

problem  which  so  universally  preoccupied  the  attention  of 
humanity.  At  Oxford  a  theological  council  of  the  Re- 
formed church  was  convened,  in 'which  religious  traditions 
and  interpretations  were  discussed  at  great  length.  To  re- 
cite, or  even  to  summarize  here  the  proceedings  of  all 
these  congresses  would  be  an  endless  task,  but  we  cannot 
omit  reference  to  that  of  the  Vatican  as  the  most  impor- 
tant from  a  religious  point  of  view,  just  as  that  of  the  In- 
stitute of  Paris^  was  from  a  scientific  one. 

The  council  had  been  divided  into  a  certain  number  of 
sections  or  committees,  and  the  then  often  discussed  ques- 
tion of  the  end  of  the  world  had  been  referred  to  one 
of  these  committees.  Our  duty  here  is  to  reproduce  as 
accurately  as  possible  the  physiognomy  of  the  main 
session,  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  this  problem. 

The  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  a  man  of  great  piety  and 
profound  faith,  was  the  first  to  speak  in  Latin.  u  Vener- 
able fathers,"  he  began,  "  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  open 
before  you  the  Holy  Gospel.  Permit  me  to  quote  lit- 
erally." He  then  read  the  words  of  the  evangelists* 
describing  the  last  days  of  the  earth,  and  went  on : 

u  These  words  are  taken  verbatim  from  the  Gospels,  and 
you  know  that  on  this  point  the  evangelists  are  in  perfect 
accord. 

"  You  also  know,  most  reverend  fathers,  that  the  last 
great  day  is  pictured  in  still  more  striking  language  in  the 


St.  Matthew,  xxiv.  and  xvi.;  St.  Mark,  xiii.;  St.  Luke,  xvii.  and  xxi. 


OMEGA. 


THE   PATRIARCH   OF  JERUSALEM   ADDRESSING  THE  COUNCIL. 


OMEGA.  125 

Apocalypse  of  St.  John.  But  every  word  of  the  Scriptures 
is  known  to  you,  and,  in  the  presence  of  so  learned  an 
audience,  it  seems  to  me  superfluous,  if  not  out  of  place, 
to  make  further  citations  from  what  is  upon  every  lip." 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  address  of  the  patriarch 
of  Jerusalem.  His  remarks  were  divided  under  three 
heads  :  First,  the  teachings  of  Christ ;  second,  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Church  ;  third,  the  dogma  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  and  of  the  last  judgment.  Taking  first  the 
form  of  an  historical  statement,  the  address  soon  became  a 
sort  of  sermon,  of  vast  range ;  and  when  the  orator,  pass- 
ing from  St.  Paul  to  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertulian  and 
Origen,  reached  the  council  of  Nice  and  the  dogma  of 
universal  resurrection,  he  was  carried  away  by  his  subject 
in  such  a  flight  of  eloquence  as  to  move  the  heart  of  every 
prelate  before  him.  Several,  who  had  renounced  the 
apostolic  faith  of  the  earlier  centuries,  felt  themselves 
again  under  its  spell.  It  must  be  said  that  the  surround- 
ings lent  themselves  marvellously  to  the  occasion.  The 
assembly  took  place  in  the  Sistine  chapel.  The  immense 
and  imposing  painting  of  Michael  Angelo,  like  a  new 
apocalyptic  heaven,  was  before  every  eye.  The  awful 
mingling  of  bodies,  arms  and  legs,  so  forcibly  and 
strangely  foreshortened  ;  Christ,  the  judge  of  the  world  ; 
the  damned  borne  struggling  away  by  hideous  devils ;  the 
dead  issuing  from  their  tombs  ;  the  skeletons  returning  to 
life  and  reclothing  themselves  with  flesh  ;  the  frightful 


126 


OMEGA. 


terror  of  humanity  trembling  in  the  presence  of  the  wrath 
of  God — all  seemed  to  give  a  vividness,  a  reality,  to  the 
magnificent  periods  of  the  patriarch's  oratory,  and  at  times, 
in  certain  effects  of  light,  one  might  almost  hear  the  ad- 
vancing trumpet  sounding  from  heaven  the  call  of  judg- 
ment, and  see  between  earth  and  sky  the  moving  hosts 
of  the  resurrection. 

Scarcely  had  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem  finished  his 
speech,  when  an  independent  bishop,  one  of  the  most 
ardent  dissenters  of  the  council,  the  learned  Mayerstross, 

rushed  to  the  tribune,  and 
began  to  insist  that  noth- 
ing in  the  Gospel,  or  the 
traditions  of  the  Church, 
should  be  taken  literally. 
"The  letter  kills,"  he 
cried,  "  the  spirit  vivifies  ! 
Everything  is  subject  to  the 
law  of  progress  and  change. 
The  world  moves.  En- 
lightened Christians  cannot 
any  longer  admit  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body.  All 
these  images,"  he  added, 
u  were  good  for  the  days  of 
the  catacombs.  For  a  long 
time  no  one  has  believed  in 


MAYEKSTROSS. 


OMEGA.  i27 

them.  Such  ideas  are  opposed  to  science,  and,  most  rev- 
erend fathers  you  know,  as  well  as  I  do,  that  we  must  be 
in  accord  with  science,  which  has  ceased  to  be,  as  in  the 
time  of  Galileo,  the  humble  servant  of  theology  :  theo- 
logiae  humilis  ancilla. 

"  The  body  cannot  be  reconstituted,  even  by  a  miracle,  so 
long  as  its  molecules  return  to  nature  and  are  appropriated, 
successively,  by  so  many  beings — human,  animal  and 
vegetable.  We  are  formed  of  the  dust  of  the  dead,  and, 
in  the  future,  the  molecules  of  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen, 
carbon,  phosphorus,  sulphur,  or  iron,  which  make  up  our 
flesh  and  our  bones,  will  be  incorporated  in  other  human 
organisms.  This  change  is  perpetual,  even  during  life. 
One  human  being  dies  every  second  ;  that  is  more  than 
86,000  each  day,  more  than  30,000,000  each  year,  more 
than  three  milliards  each  century.  In  a  hundred  centuries 
— not  a  long  period  in  the  history  of  a  planet,  the  number 
of  the  resurrected  would  be  three  hundred  milliards.  If 
the  human  race  lived  but  a  100,000  years — and  no  one 
here  is  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  geological  and  astro- 
nomical periods  are  estimated  by  millions  of  years — there 
would  be  gathered  before  the  judgment  throne  something 
like  three  thousand  milliards  of  men,  women  and  children. 
My  estimate  is  a  modest  one,  because  I  take  no  account  of 
the  secular  increase  in  population.  You  may  reply  to  me, 
that  only  the  saved  will  rise  !  What,  then,  will  become 
of  the  others  ?  Two  weights  and  two  measures  !  Death 


128  OMEGA. 

and  life  !  Night  and  day,  good  and  evil !  Divine  injus- 
tice and  good-will,  reigning  together  over  creation  !  But, 
no,  you  will  not  accept  such  a  solution.  The  eternal  law 
is  the  same  for  all.  Well  !  What  will  you  do  with  these 
thousands  of  milliards  ?  Show  me  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat  vast  enough  to  contain  them.  Will  you  spread  them 
over  the  surface  of  the  globe,  do  away  with  the  oceans  and 
the  icefields  of  the  poles,  and  cover  the  world  with  a  forest 
of  human  bodies  ?  So  be  it !  And  afterwards  ?  What 
will  become  of  this  immense  host?  No,  most  holy 
fathers,  our  beliefs  must  not,  cannot,  be  taken  literally. 
Would  that  there  were  here  no  theologians  with  closed 
eyes,  that  look  only  within,  but  astronomers  with  open 
eyes,  that  look  without." 

These  words  had  been  uttered  in  the  midst  of  an 
indescribable  tumult ;  several  times  they  wished  to  silence 
the  Croatian  bishop,  gesticulating  violently  and  denounc- 
ing him  as  schismatic  ;  but  the  rules  did  not  permit  this, 
for  the  greatest  liberty  was  allowed  in  the  discussion.  An 
Irish  cardinal  called  down  upon  him  the  thunders  of  the 
Church,  and  spoke  of  excommunication  and  anathema ; 
then,  a  distinguished  prelate  of  the  Gallican  church,  no  less 
a  person  than  the  archbishop  of  Paris  himself,  ascended  the 
rostrum  and  declared  that  the  dogma  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  might  be  discussed  without  incurring  any 
canonical  blame,  and  that  it  might  be  interpreted  in  entire 
harmony  with  reason  and  faith.  According  to  him  one 


OMEGA.  129 

might  admit  the  dogma,  and  at  the  same  time  recognize 
the  rational  impossibility  of  a  resurrection  of  the  body  ! 

"  The  Doctor  Angelicas, "  he  said,  speaking  of  St. 
Thomas,  "  maintained  that  the  complete  dissolution  of 
every  human  body  by  fire  would  take  place  before  the 
resurrection.  (Summa  theologica,  III.)  I  readily  concede 
with  Calmet  (on  the  resurrection  of  the  dead)  that  to  the 
omnipotence  of  the  Creator  it  would  not  be  impossible  to 
reassemble  the  scattered  molecules  in  such  a  way  that  the 
resurrected  body  should  not  contain  a  single  one  which 
did  not  belong  to  it  at  some  time  during  its  mortal  life. 
But  such  a  miracle  is  not  necessary.  St.  Thomas  has  him- 
self shown  (loco  citato)  that  this  complete  material  identity 
is  by  no  means  indispensable  to  establish  the  perfect 
identity  of  the  resurrected  body  with  the  body  destroyed 
by  death.  I  also  think,  therefore,  that  the  letter  should 
give  way  to  the  spirit. 

"  What  is  the  principle  of  identity,  in  a  living  body  ? 
Assuredly  it  does  not  consist  in  the  complete  and  per- 
sistent identity  of  its  matter.  For  in  this  continual 
change  and  renewal,  which  is  the  very  essence  of  physio- 
logical life,  the  elements,  which  have  belonged  successive- 
ly from  infancy  to  old  age  to  the  same  human  being,  would 
form  a  colossal  body.  In  this  torrent  of  life  the  elements 
pass  and  change  ceaselessly ;  but  the  organism  remains  the 
same,  notwithstanding  the  modifications  in  its  size,  its  form 
and  its  constitution.  Does  the  growing  stem  of  the  oak, 


ISO  OMEGA. 

hidden  between  its  two  cotyledons,  cease  to  be  the  same 
plant  when  it  has  become  a  mighty  oak  ?  Is  the  embryo 
of  the  caterpillar,  while  yet  in  the  egg,  no  longer  the  same 
insect  when  it  becomes  a  caterpillar,  and  then  a  chrysalis, 
and  then  a  butterfly  ?  Is  individuality  lost  as  the  child 
passes  through  manhood  to  old  age  ?  Assuredly  not.  But 
in  the  case  of  the  oak,  the  butterfly,  and  the  man,  is  there  a 
single  remaining  molecule  of  those  which  constituted  the 
growing  stem  of  the  oak,  the  egg  of  the  caterpillar  or  the 
human  embryo  ?  What  then  is  the  principle  which  persists 
through  all  these  changes?  This  principle  is  a  reality, 
not  a  fiction.  It  is  not  the  soul,  for  the  plants  have  life, 
and  yet  no  souls,  in  the  meaning  of  the  word  as  we  use  it. 
Nevertheless,  it  must  be  an  imponderable  agent.  Does  it 
survive  the  body  ?  It  is  possible.  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssus 
believed  so.  If  it  remains  united  to  the  soul,  it  may  be 
invoked  to  furnish  it  with  a  new  body  identical  with  that 
which  death  has  destroyed,  even  though  this  body  should 
not  possess  a  single  molecule  which  it  possessed  at  any 
period  of  its  terrestrial  life,  and  this  would  be  as  truly  our 
body  as  that  which  we  had  when  five,  fifteen,  or  thirty, 
or  sixty  years  of  age. 

"  Such  a  conception  agrees  perfectly  with  the  expressions 
of  holy  writ,  according  to  which  it  is  certain  that  after  a 
period  of  separation  the  soul  will  again  take  on  the  body 
forever. 

"  In  addition  to  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssus,  permit  me,  most 


OMEGA.  131 

reverend  fathers,  to  cite  a  philosopher  L,eibnitz,  who  held 
the  opinion  that  the  physiological  principle  of  life  was  im- 
ponderable but  not  incorporeal,  and  that  the  soul  remains 
united  to  this  principle,  although  separated  from  the  pon- 
derable and  visible  body.  I  do  not  pretend  to  either  ac- 
cept or  reject  this  hypothesis.  I  only  note  that  it  may 
serve  to  explain  the  dogma  of'  the  resurrection,  in  which 
every  Christian  should  firmly  believe." 

"  This  effort  to  conciliate  reason  and  faith,"  interrupted 
the  Croatian  bishop,  "  is  worthy  of  praise,  but  it  seems  to 
me  more  ingenious  than  probable.  Are  these  bodies, 
bodies  like  our  own?  If  they  are  perfect,  incorruptible, 
fitted  to  their  new  conditions,  they  must  not  possess  any 
organ  for  which  there  is  no  use.  Why  a  mouth,  if  they 
do  not  eat  ?  Why  legs,  if  they  do  not  walk  ?  Why  arms, 
if  they  do  not  work?  One  of  the  fathers  of  the  early 
church,  Origen,  whose  personal  sacrifice  is  not  forgotten, 
thought  these  bodies  must  be  perfect  spheres.  That  would 
be  logical  but  not  very  beautiful  or  interesting." 

"  It  is  better  to  admit  with  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssus  and 
St.  Augustin,"  replied  the  archbishop,  "  that  the  resurrec- 
ted body  will  have  the  human  form,  a  transparent  veil  of 
the  beauty  of  the  soul." 

Thus  was  the  modern  theory  of  the  Church  on  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  summed  up  by  the  French  cardinal. 
As  to  the  objections  on  the  score  of  the  locality  of  the 
resurrection,  the  number  of  the  resurrected,  the  insuffi- 


ij2  OMEGA. 

ciency  of  surface  on  the  globe,  the  final  abode  of  the  elect 
and  the  damned,  it  was  impossible  to  come  to  any  common 
understanding  for  the  contradictions  were  irreconcilable. 
The  resultant  impression  was,  however,  that  these  matters 
also  should  be  understood  figuratively,  that  neither  the 
heaven  or  the  hell  of  the  theologian  represented  any  definite 
place,  but  rather  states  of  the  soul,  of  happiness  or  of 
misery,  and  that  life,  whatever  its  form,  would  be  perpetu- 
ated on  the  countless  worlds  which  people  infinite  space. 
And  so  it  appeared  that  Christian  thought  had  gradually 
become  transformed,  among  the  enlightened,  and  followed 
the  progress  of  astronomy  and  the  other  sciences. 

The  council  had  been  held  on  Tuesday  evening,  that  is 
to  say  on  the  day  following  the  two  meetings  of  the  Insti- 
tute, of  which  an  account  has  been  given  above.  The 
Pope  had  made  public  the  advice  of  the  president  of  the 
Institute  to  leave  Italy  on  the  fatal  day,  but  no  attention 
had  been  paid  to  it,  partly  because  death  is  a  deliverance 
for  every  believer,  and  partly  because  most  theologians 
denied  the  existence  even  of  inhabitants  upon  Mars. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IT  is  now  time  to  pause,  amid  the  eventful  scenes  through 
which  we  are  passing,  in  order  to  consider  this  new  fear 
of  the  end  of  the  world  with  others  which  have  preceded 
it,  and  to  pass  rapidly  in  review  the  remarkable  history  of 
this  idea,  which  has  reappeared  again  and  again  in  the 
past.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  this  subject 
was  the  sole  theme  of  conversation  in  every  land  and  in 

every  tongue. 

133 


t34  OMEGA. 

As  to  the  dogma  "  Credo  Resurrectionem  Carnis,"  the 
addresses  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church  before  the  council 
assembled  in  the  Sistine  chapel  at  Rome,  were,  on  the 
whole,  in  accord  with  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  cardi- 
nal archbishop  of  Paris.  The  clause  "  et  vitam  seternam  " 
was  tacitly  ignored,  in  view  of  the  possible  discoveries  of 
astronomy  and  psychology.  These  addresses  epitomized, 
as  it  were,  the  history  of  the  doctrine  of  the  end  of  the 
world  as  held  by  the  Christian  Church  in  all  ages. 

This  history  is  interesting,  for  it  is  also  the  history  of 
the  human  mind  face  to  face  with  its  own  destiny,  and  we 
believe  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  devote  to  it  a  separate 
chapter.  For  the  time  being,  therefore,  we  abandon  our 
role  as  the  chronicler  of  the  twenty-fourth  century,  and 
return  to  our  own  times,  in  order  to  consider  this  doctrine 
from  an  historical  point  of  view. 

The  existence  of  a  profound  and  tenacious  faith  is  as 
old  as  the  centuries,  and  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  all  relig- 
ions, irrespective  of  Christian  dogma,  have  opened  the 
same  door  from  this  mortal  life  upon  the  unknown  which 
lies  beyond,  it  is  the  door  of  the  Divine  Comedy  of  Dante, 
although  the  conceptions  of  paradise,  hell  and  purgatory 
peculiar  to  the  Christian  Church,  are  not  universal. 

Zoroaster  and  the  Zend-Avesta  taught  that  the  world 
would  perish  by  fire.  The  same  idea  is  found  in  the  Epis- 
tle of  St.  Peter.  It  seems  that  the  traditions  of  Noah  and 
of  Deucalion,  according  to  which  the  first  great  disaster  to 


OMEGA.  ijs 

humanity  came  by  flood,  indicated  that  the  second  great 
disaster  would  be  of  an  exactly  opposite  character. 

The  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  died,  probably,  in  the  year 
64,  during  the  horrible  slaughter  ordered  by  Nero  after  the 
burning  of  Rome,  which  had  been  fired  at  his  command 
and  whose  destruction  he  attributed  to  the  Christians  in 
order  that  he  might  have  a  pretext  for  new  persecutions. 
St.  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse  in  the  year  69.  The  reign 
of  Nero  was  a  bloody  one,  and  martyrdom  seemed  to  be 
the  natural  consequence  of  a  virtuous  life.  Prodigies 
appeared  on  every  hand ;  there  were  comets,  falling  stars, 
eclipses,  showers  of  blood,  monsters,  earthquakes,  famines, 
pestilences,  and  above  all,  there  was  the  Jewish  war  and 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Never,  perhaps,  were  so 
many  horrors,  so  much  cruelty  and  madness,  so  many  catas- 
trophes, crowded  into  so  short  a  period  as  in  the  years 
64-69  A.D.  The  little  church  of  Christ  was  apparently 
dispersed.  It  was  impossible  to  remain  in  Jerusalem.  The 
horrors  of  the  reign  of  terror  of  1793,  and  of  the  Com- 
mune of  1871,  were  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  those 
of  the  Jewish  civil  war.  The  family  of  Jesus  was  obliged 
to  leave  the  holy  city  and  to  seek  safety  in  flight.  False 
prophets  appeared,  thus  verifying  former  prophecies.  Ve- 
suvius was  preparing  the  terrible  eruption  of  the  year  79, 
and  already,  in  63,  Pompeii  had  been  destroyed  by  an 
earthquake. 

There  was  every  indication  that  the  end  of   the  world 


ij6  OMEGA. 

was  at  hand.  Nothing  was  wanting.  The  Apocalypse 
announced  it. 

But  a  calm  followed  the  storm.  The  terrible  Jewish 
war  came  to  an  end  ;  Nero  fell  before  Galba ;  under  Ves- 
pasian and  Titus,  peace  (71)  succeeded  war,  and — the  end 
of  the  world  was  not  yet. 

Once  more  it  became  necessary  to  interpret  anew  the 
words  of  the  evangelists.  The  coming  of  Christ  was  put 
off  until  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  thus  con- 
siderable margin  was  given  to  the  commentator.  A  firm 
belief  in  a  final  and  even  an  imminent  catastrophe  per- 
sisted, but  it  was  couched  in  vague  terms,  which  robbed 
the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of  the  prophecy  of  all  pre- 
cision. Still,  the  conviction  remained. 

St.  Augustine  devotes  the  xxth  book  of  the  City  of  God 
(426)  to  the  regeneration  of  the  world,  the  resurrection, 
the  last  judgment,  and  the  New  Jerusalem ;  in  the  xxist 
book  he  describes  the  everlasting  torments  of  hell-fire.  A 
witness  to  the  fall  of  Rome  and  the  empire,  the  bishop  of 
Carthage  believed  these  events  to  be  the  first  act  of  the 
drama.  But  the  reign  of  God  was  to  continue  a  thousand 
years  before  the  coming  of  Satan. 

St.  Gregory,  bishop  of  Tours  (573),  the  first  historian  of 
the  Franks,  began  his  history  as  follows  :  "  As  I  am  about 
to  relate  the  wars  of  the  kings  with  hostile  nations,  I  feel 
impelled  to  declare  my  belief.  The  terror  with  which 
men  await  the  end  of  the  world  decides  me  to  chronicle 


OMEGA.  i37 

the  years  already  passed,  that  thus  one  may  know  exactly 
how  many  have  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  the  world." 

This  tradition  was  perpetuated  from  year  to  year  and 
from  century  to  century,  notwithstanding  that  nature  failed 
to  confirm  it.  Every  catastrophe,  earthquake,  epidemic, 
famine  and  flood,  every  phenomenon,  eclipse,  comet,  storm, 
sudden  darkness  and  tempest,  was  looked  upon  as  the  fore- 
runner and  herald  of  the  final  cataclysm.  Trembling  like 
leaves  in  the  blast,  the  faithful  awaited  the  coming  judg- 
ment ;  and  preachers  successfully  worked  upon  this  dread 
apprehension,  so  deeply  rooted  in  every  heart. 

But,  as  generation  after  generation  passed,  it  became 
necessary  to  define  again  the  wide-spread  tradition,  and 
about  this  time  the  idea  of  a  millennium  took  form  in  the 
minds  of  commentators.  There  were  many  sects  which 
believed  that  Christ  would  reign  with  the  saints  a  thousand 
years  before  the  day  of  judgment.  St.  Irenus,  St.  Papias, 
and  St.  Sulpicius  Severus  shared  this  belief,  which  acquired 
an  exaggerated  and  sensual  form  in  the  minds  of  many, 
who  looked  forward  to  a  day  of  general  rejoicing  for  the 
elect  and  a  reign  of  pleasure.  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Augus- 
tine did  much  to  discredit  these  views,  but  did  not  attack 
the  central  doctrine  of  a  resurrection.  Commentators  on 
the  Apocalypse  continued  to  flourish  through  the  somber 
night  of  the  middle  ages,  and  in  the  tenth  century  espe- 
cially the  belief  gained  ground  that  the  year  1000  was  to 
usher  in  the  great  change. 


OMEGA  . 


This  conviction  of  an  approaching  end  of  the  world,  if 
not  universal,  was  at  least  very  general.  Several  charters 
of  the  period  began  with  this  sentence  :  Termino  mnndi 
appropinquante  :  "  The  end  of  the  world  drawing  near." 
In  spite  of  some  exceptions,  it  seems  difficult  not  to  share 
the  opinion  of  historians,  notably  of  Michelet,  Henry 
Martin,  Guizot,  and  Duruy,  regarding  the  prevalence  of 
this  belief  throughout  Christendom.  Doubtless,  neither 
the  French  monk  Gerbert,  at  that  time  Pope  Sylvester 
II.,  nor  King  Robert  of  France,  regulated  their  lives  by 
their  superstition,  but  it  had  none  the  less  penetrated 
the  conscience  of  the  faint-hearted,  and  many  a  sermon 
was  preached  from  this  text  of  the  Apocalypse  : 

"And  when  the 
thousand  years  are  ex- 
pired, Satan  shall  be 
loosed  out  of  his  prison, 
and  shall  go  out  to  de- 
ceive the  nations  which 
are  in  the  four  quarters 
of  the  earth  .  .  . 
and  another  book  was 
opened,  which  is  the 
Book  of  Life  .  . 
and  the  sea  gave  up 
the  dead  wrhich  were 
in  it :  and  death  and 


VICTIMS  OF  THE  PLAGUE. 


OMEGA.  139 

hell  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them  :  and  they  were 
judged  every  man  according  to  his  works .  .  .  and  I 
saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth." 

Bernard,  a  hermit  of  Thuringia,  had  taken  these  very 
words  of  Revelation  as  the  text  of  his  preaching,  and  in 
about  the  year  960  he  publicly  announced  that  the  end 
of  the  world  was  at  hand.  He  even  fixed  the  fatal  day 
itself,  as  that  on  which  "  The  Annunciation "  and  Holy 
Friday  should  fall  on  the  same  day,  a  coincidence  which 
really  occurred  in  992. 

Druthmar,  a  monk  of  Corbie,  prophesied  the  end  of  the 
world  for  the  24th  of  March  in  the  year  1000.  In  many 
cities  popular  terror  was  so  great  on  that  day  that  the 
people  sought  refuge  in  the  churches,  remaining  until 
midnight,  prostrate  before  the  relics  of  the  saints,  in  order 
to  await  there  the  last  trump  and  to  die  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross. 

From  this  epoch  date  many  gifts  to  the  Church.  Lands 
and  goods  were  given  to  the  monasteries.  Indeed,  an 
authentic  and  very  curious  document  is  preserved,  written 
in  the  year  1000  by  a  certain  monk,  Raoul  Glaber,  on 
whose  first  pages  we  find  :  "  Satan  will  soon  be  unloosed, 
as  prophesied  by  St.  John,  the  thozisand  years  having  been 
accomplished.  It  is  of  these  years  that  we  are  to  speak." 

The  end  of  the  tenth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century  was  a  truly  strange  and  fearful  period. 
From  980  to  1040  it  seemed  as  if  the  angel  of  death  had 


140  OMEGA. 

spread  his  wings  over  the  world.  Famine  and  pestilence 
desolated  the  length  and  breadth  of  Europe.  There  was 
in  the  first  place  the  "  mal  des  ardents,"  the  flesh  of  its 
victims  decaying  and  falling  from  the  bones,  was  consumed 
as  by  fire,  and  the  members  themselves  were  destroyed  and 
fell  away.  Wretches  thus  afflicted  thronged  the  roads 
leading  to  the  shrines  and  besieged  the  churches,  filling 
them  with  terrible  odors,  and  dying  before  the  relics  of  the 
saints.  The  fearful  pest  made  more  than  forty  thousand 
victims  in  Acquitania,  and  devastated  the  southern  portions 
of  France. 

Then  came  famine,  ravaging  a  large  part  of  Christen- 
dom. Of  the  seventy-three  years  between  987  and  1060, 
forty-eight  were  years  of  famine  and  pestilence.  The 
invasion  of  the  Huns,  between  910  and  945,  revived  the 
horrors  of  Attila,  and  the  soil  was  so  laid  waste  by  wars 
between  domains  and  provinces  that  it  ceased  to  be  culti- 
vated. For  three  years  rain  fell  continuously ;  it  was 
impossible  either  to  sow  or  to  reap.  The  earth  became 
barren  and  was  abandoned.  "  The  price  of  a  '  muid  '  of 
wheat,"  writes  Raoul  Glaber,  "  rose  to  sixty  gold  sous  ;  the 
rich  waxed  thin  and  pale ;  the  poor  gnawed  the  roots  of 
trees,  and  many  were  in  such  extremity  as  to  devour 
human  flesh.  The  strong  fell  upon  the  weak  in  the  public 
highways,  tore  them  in  pieces,  and  roasted  them  for  food. 
Children  were  enticed  by  an  egg  or  some  fruit  into  by- 
ways, where  they  were  devoured.  This  frenzy  of  hunger 


OMEGA  . 


141 


THE  HUT  IN  THE  FOREST  OF  MACON. 


142  OMEGA. 

was  such  that  the  beast  was  safer  than  man.  Famished 
children  killed  their  parents,  and  mothers  feasted  upon 
their  children.  One  person  exposed  human  flesh  for  sale 
in  the  market  place  of  Tournus,  as  if  it  were  a  staple  arti- 
cle of  food.  He  did  not  deny  the  fact  and  was  burned  at 
the  stake.  Another,  stealing  this  flesh  by  night  from  the 
spot  where  it  had  been  buried,  was  also  burned  alive." 

This  testimony  is  that  of  one  who  lived  at  the  time  and 
in  many  cases  was  an  eye  witness  to  what  he  relates.  On 
every  side  people  were  perishing  of  hunger,  and  did  not 
scruple  to  eat  reptiles,  unclean  animals,  and  even  human 
flesh.  In  the  depths  of  the  forest  of  Macon,  in  the  vicinity 
of  a  church  dedicated  to  St.  John,  a  wretch  had  built  a  hut 
in  which  he  strangled  pilgrims  and  wayfarers.  One  day  a 
traveller  entering  the  hut  with  his  wife  to  seek  rest,  saw 
in  a  corner  the  heads  of  men,  women  and  children. 
Attempting  to  fly,  they  were  prevented  by  their  host. 
They  succeeded,  however,  in  escaping,  and  on  reaching 
Macon,  related  what  they  had  seen.  Soldiers  were  sent  to 
the  bloody  spot,  where  they  counted  forty-eight  human 
heads.  The  murderer  was  dragged  to  the  town  and  burned 
alive.  The  hut  and  the  ashes  of  the  funeral  pile  were  seen 
by  Raoul  Glaber.  So  numerous  were  the  corpses  that 
burial  was  impossible,  and  disease  followed  close  upon 
famine.  Hordes  of  wolves  preyed  upon  the  unburied. 
Never  before  had  such  misery  been  known. 

War   and  pillage   were   the   universal   rule,    but    these 


OMEGA  . 


143 


scourges  from  heaven  made  men  somewhat  more  reason- 
able. The  bishops  came  together,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
establish  a  truce  for  four  days  of  each  week,  from  Wednes- 
day night  to  Monday  morning.  This  was  known  as  the 
truce  of  God. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  end  of  so  miserable  a  world 
was  both  the  hope  and  the  terror  of  this  mournful  period. 

The  year  1000,  however,  passed  like  its  predecessors, 
and  the  world  continued  to  exist.  Were  the  prophets 
wrong  again,  or  did  the  thousand  years  of  Christendom 
point  to  the  year  1033  ?  The  world  waited  and  hoped. 
In  that  very  year  occurred  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  ;  "  The 


"  BANDS  OF  WOLVES  PREYED  UPON  THE  UNBURIED.'' 


i44  O  ME  G  A  . 

great  source  of  light  became  saffron  colored  ;  gazing  into 
each  others  faces  men  saw  that  they  were  pale  as  death ; 
every  object  presented  a  livid  appearance  ;  stupor  seized 
upon  every  heart  and  a  general  catastrophe  was  expected." 
But  the  end  of  the  world  was  not  yet. 

It  was  to  this  critical  period  that  we  owe  the  construc- 
tion of  the  magnificent  cathedrals  which  have  survived 
the  ravages  of  time  and  excited  the  wonder  of  centuries. 
Immense  wealth  had  been  lavished  upon  the  clergy,  and 
their  riches  increased  by  donations  and  inheritence.  A 
new  era  seemed  to  be  at  hand.  "  After  the  year  1000,"  con- 
tinues Raoul  Glaber,  "  the  holy  basilicas  throughout  the 
world  were  entirely  renovated,  especially  in  Italy  and  Gaul, 
although  for  the  most  part  they  were  in  no  need  of  repair. 
Christian  nations  vied  with  each  other  in  the  erection  of 
magnificent  churches.  It  seemed  as  if  the  entire  world, 
animated  by  a  common  impulse,  shook  off  the  rags  of  the 
past  to  put  on  a  new  garment ;  and  the  faithful  were  not 
content  to  rebuild  nearly  all  the  episcopal  churches,  but 
also  embellished  the  monasteries  dedicated  to  the  various 
saints,  and  even  the  chapels  in  the  smaller  villages." 

The  somber  year  1000  had  followed  the  vanished  cen- 
turies into  the  past,  but  through  what  troubled  times  the 
Church  had  passed  !  The  popes  were  the  puppets  of  the 
rival  Saxon  emperors  and  the  princes  of  Latium.  All 
Christendom  was  in  arms.  The  crisis  had  passed,  but 
the  problem  of  the  end  of  the  world  remained,  and  ere- 


OMEGA. 


dence  in  this  dread 
certain  and  vague, 
that  profound  be- 
and  in  prodigies 
endure  for  centur- 
mind.  The  final 
judgment  was 
the  portals  of  ev- 
on  entering  the 
church  one  passed 


event,  though  un- 
was  fostered  by 
lief  in  the  devil 
which  was  yet  to 
ies  in  the  popular 
scene  of  the  last 
sculptured  over 
ery  cathedral,  and 
sanctuary  of  the 
under  the  balance 


of  the  archangel,  on  whose  left  writhed  the  bodies  of  the 
devils  and  the  damned,  delivered  over  to  the  eternal  flames 
of  hell. 

But  the  idea  that  the  world  was  to  end  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  Church.  In  the  twelfth  century  astrologers 
terrified  Europe  by  the  announcement  of  a  conjunction  of 
all  the  planets  in  the  constellation  of  the  scales.  This 
conjunction  indeed,  occurred,  for  on  September  i5th  all 
the  planets  were  found  between  the  iSoth  and  iQOth  de- 
grees of  longitude.  But  the  end  of  the  world  did  not 
come. 

The  celebrated  alchemist,  Arnauld  de  Villeneuve,  fore- 
told it  again  for  the  year  1335.  In  1406,  under  Charles 
vi.,  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  occurring  on  June  i6th,  produced 
a  general  panic,  which  is  chronicled  by  Juvenal  of  the 
Ursuline  Order  :  "  It  is  a  pitiable  sight,"  he  says,  "  to  see 
people  taking  refuge  in  the  churches  as  if  the  world  were 

10 


OMEGA  . 


about  to  perish."  In  1491  St.  Vincent  Ferrier  wrote  a 
treatise  entitled,  "  De  la  Fin  du  Monde  et  de  la  Science 
Spirituelle."  He  allows  Christendom  as  many  years  of  life 
as  there  are  verses  in  the  psalter,  namely,  2537.  Then  a 
German  astrologer,  one  Stonier,  predicted  that  on  February 
20,  1524,  a  general  deluge  would  result  from  a  conjunction 
of  the  planets.  He  was  very  generally  believed,  and  the 
panic  was  extreme.  Property  situated  in  valleys,  along 
river  banks,  or  near  the  sea,  was  sold  to  the  less  credulous 
for  a  mere  nothing.  A  certain  doctor,  Auriol,  of  Toulouse, 
had  an  ark  built  for  himself,  his  family  and  his  friends, 
and  Bodin  asserts  that  he  was  not  the  only  one  who  took 
this  precaution. 

There  were  few  sceptics.  The  grand  chancellor  of 
Charles  v.  sought  the  advice  of  Pierre  Martyr,  who 
told  him  that  the  event  would  not  be  as  fatal  as  was 
feared,  but  that  the  conjunction  of  the  planets  would 
doubtless  occasion  grave  disasters.  The  fatal  day  ar- 
rived .  .  .  and  never 
had  the  month  of  February 
been  so  dry!  But  this  did 
not  prevent  new  predic- 
tions for  the  year  1532,  by 
the  astrologer  of  the  elec- 
tor of  Brandenburg,  Jean 
Carion  ;  and  again  for  the 
year  1584,  by  the  astrol- 


OMEGA 


147 


oger  Cyprian  lyeowitz.  It  was  again  a  question  of  a 
deluge,  due  to  planetary  conjunctions.  u  The  terror  of  the 
populace,"  writes  a  contemporary,  Louis  Guyon,  "was 
extreme,  and  the  churches  could  not  hold  the  multitudes 
which  fled  to  them  for  refuge  ;  many  made  their  wills 
without  stopping  to  think  that  this  availed  little  if  the 
world  was  really  to  perish  ;  others  donated  their  goods  to 
the  clergy,  in  the  hope  that  their  prayers  would  put  off 
the  day  of  judgment." 

In  1588  there  was  another  astrological  prediction, 
couched  in  apocalyptic  language,  as  follows  :  "  The  eighth 
year  following  the  fifteen  hundred  and  eightieth  anni- 
versary of  the  birth  of  Christ  will  be  a  year  of  prodigies 
and  terror.  If  in  this  terrible  year  the  globe  be  not 
dissolved  in  dust,  and  the  land  and  the  sea  be  not  destroyed, 
every  kingdom  will  be  overthrown  and  humanity  will 
travail  in  pain." 

As  might  be  expected, 
the  celebrated  soothsayer, 
Nostradamus,  is  found 
among  these  prophets  of 
evil.  In  his  book  of 
rhymed  prophecies,  en- 
titled Centuries,  we  find 
the  following  quatrain, 
which  excited  much 
speculation : 


148  OMEGA. 

Quand  Georges  Dieu  crucifiera, 
Que  Marc  le  ressuscitera, 
Bt  que  St.  Jean  le  portera, 
L,a  fin  du  moiide  arrivera. 

The  meaning  of  which  is,  that  when  Easter  falls  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  April  (St.  Mark's  day),  Holy  Friday  will 
fall  on  the  twenty-third  (St.  George's  day),  and  Corpus 
Christi  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June  (St.  John's  day),  and 
the  end  of  the  world  will  come.  This  verse  was  not  with- 
out malice,  for  at  this  time  (Nostradamus  died  in  1556)  the 
calendar  had  not  been  reformed  ;  this  was  not  done  until 
1582,  and  it  was  impossible  for  Easter  to  fall  on  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  April.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  twenty-fifth 
of  April  corresponded  to  the  fifteenth  ;  the  day  following 
November  4,  1582,  was  called  the  fifteenth.  After  the 
introduction  of  the  Gregorian  calendar,  Easter  might  fall 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  April,  its  latest  possible  date,  and 
this  was  the  case  in  1666,  1734,  1886,  as  it  will  be  again 
in  1942,  2038,  2190,  etc.,  the  end  of  the  world,  however, 
not  being  a  necessary  consequence  of  this  coincidence. 

Planetary  conjunctions,  eclipses  and  comets  were  alike 
the  basis  for  prophecies  of  evil.  Among  the  comets  re- 
corded in  history  we  may  mention,  as  the  most  remarkable 
from  this  point  of  view,  that  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
which  appeared  in  1066,  and  which  is  pictured  on  the 
tapestry  of  Queen  Matilda,  at  Bayeux  ;  that  of  1264,  which, 


OMEGA  . 


149 


it  is  said,  disappeared  the 
very  day  of  the  death  of 
Pope  Urban  iv.;  that  of 
1327,  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  imposing  ever 
seen,  which  "  presaged  " 
the  death  of  Frederick, 
king  of  Sicily ;  that  of 
1399,  which  Juvenal,  the 
Ursuline,  described  as 
"the  harbinger  of  com- 
ing evil ;  "  that  of  1402,  to  which  was  ascribed  the  death  of 
Gian  Galeazzo,  Visconti,  duke  of  Milan  ;  that  of  1456,  which 
filled  all  Christendom  with  terror,  under  Pope  Calixtus 
in.,  during  the  war  with  the  Turks,  and  which  is  associa- 
ted with  the  history  of  the  Angelus ;  and  that  of  1472, 
which  preceded  the  death  of  the  brother  of  Louis  xi. 
There  were  others,  also,  associated  like  the  preceding,  with 
catastrophes  and  wars,  and  especially  with  the  dreaded  last 
hours  of  the  race.  That  of  1527  is  described  "by  Ambroise 
Pare,  and  by  Simon  Goulart,  as  formed  of  severed  heads, 
poignards  and  bloody  clouds.  The  comet  of  1531  was 
thought  to  herald  the  death  of  Louise  of  Savoy,  mother  of 
Francis  i.,  and  this  princess  shared  the  popular  superstition 
in  reference  to  evil  stars  :  "  Behold  !  "  she  exclaimed  from 
her  bed,  on  perceiving  the  comet  through  the  window, 
"  behold  an  omen  which  is  not  given  to  one  of  low  degree. 


ISO  OMEGA. 

God  sends  it  as  a  warning  to  us.  L,et  us  prepare  to  meet 
death."  Three  days  after,  she  died.  But  the  famous 
comet  of  Charles  v.,  appearing  in  1556,  was  perhaps  the 
most  memorable  of  all.  It  had  been  identified  as  the 
comet  of  1264,  and  its  return  was  announced  for  1848. 
But  it  did  not  reappear. 

The  comets  of  1577,  1607,  1652  and  1665  were  the 
subjects  of  endless  commentaries,  forming  a  library  by 
themselves.  At  the  last  of  these  Alphonso  vi.,  king  of 
Portugal,  angrily  discharged  his  pistol,  with  the  most 
grotesque  defiance.  Pierre  Petit,  by  order  of  L,ouis  xiv., 
published  a  work  designed  to  counteract  the  foolish,  and 
political,  apprehensions  excited  by  comets.  This  illus- 
trious king  desired  to  be  without  a  rival,  the  only  sun, 
"  Nee  pluribus  impar  ! "  and  would  not  admit  the  sup- 
position that  the  glory  of  France  could  be  imperilled  even 
by  a  celestial  phenomenon. 

One  of  the  greatest  comets  which  ever  struck  the 
imagination  of  men  was  assuredly  the  famous  comet  of 
1680,  to  which  Newton  devoted  so  much  attention.  "  It 
issued,"  said  L,emonnier,  "  with  a  frightful  velocity  from 
the  depths  of  space  and  seemed  falling  directly  into  the  sun 
and  was  seen  to  vanish  with  an  equal  velocity.  It  was 
visible  for  four  months.  It  approached  quite  near  to  the 
earth,  and  Winston  ascribed  the  deluge  to  its  former  ap- 
pearance." Bayle  wrote  a  treatise  to  prove  the  absurdity 
of  beliefs  founded  on  these  portents.  Madame  de  Sevigne 


OMEGA.  151 

writing  to  her  cousin,  Count  de  Bussy-Rabutin,  says  :  "  We 
have  a  comet  of  enormous  size ;  its  tail  is  the  most  beau- 
tiful object  conceivable.  Hvery  person  of  note  is  alarmed 
and  believes  that  heaven,  interested  in  their  fate,  sends 
them  a  warning"  in  this  comet.  They  say  that  the  courtiers 
of  Cardinal  Mazarin,  who  is  despaired  of  by  his  physicians 
believe  this  prodigy  is  in  honor  of  his  passing  away,  and 
tell  him  of  the  terror  with  which  it  has  inspired  them.  He 
had  the  sense  to  laugh  at  them,  and  to  reply  facetiously 
that  the  comet  did  him  too  much  honor.  In  truth  we 
ought  all  to  agree  with  him,  for  human  pride  assumes  too 
much  when  it  believes  that  death  is  attended  by  such  signs 
from  heaven." 

We  see  that  comets  were  gradually  losing  their  prestige. 
Yet  we  read  in  a  treatise  of  the  astronomer  Bernouilli  this 
singular  remark  :  "If  the  head  of  the  comet  be  not  a 
visible  sign  of  the  anger  of  God,  the  tail  may  well  be" 

Fear  of  the  end  of  the  world  was  reawakened  by  the 
appearance  of  comets  in  1773  ;  a  great  panic  spread 
throughout  Europe,  and  Paris  itself  was  alarmed.  Here  is 
an  extract  from  the  memoirs  of  Bachaumont,  accessible  to 
every  reader  : 

"  May  6th,  1773.  In  the  last  public  meeting  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences,  M  de  L,alande  was  to  read  by  far 
the  most  interesting  paper  of  all ;  this,  however,  he  was 
not  able  to  do,  for  lack  of  time.  It  concerned  the  comets 
which,  by  approaching  the  earth,  may  cause  revolutions. 


152  OMEGA. 

and  dealt  especially  with  that  one  whose  return  is  expected 
in  eighteen  years.  But  although  he  affirmed  that  it  was 
not  one  of  those  which  would  harm  the  earth,  and  that, 
moreover,  he  had  observed  that  one  could  not  fix,  with  any 
exactness,  the  order  of  such  occurrences,  there  exists, 
nevertheless,  a  very  general  anxiety, 

"  May  9th.  The  cabinet  of  M.  de  Lalande  is  filled  with 
the  curious  who  come  to  question  him  concerning  the 
above  memoir,  and,  in  order  to  reassure  those  who  have 
been  alarmed  by  the  exaggerated  rumors  circulated  about 
it,  he  will  doubtless  be  forced  to  make  it  public.  The 
excitement  has  been  so  great  that  some  ignorant  fanatics 
have  besought  the  archbishop  to  institute  prayers  for  forty 
hours,  in  order  to  avert  the  deluge  which  menaces  us ; 
and  this  prelate  would  have  authorized  these  prayers,  had 
not  the  Academy  shown  him  the  ridiciile  which  such  a 
step  would  produce. 

"  May  1 4th.  The  memoir  of  M.  de  Lalande  has  ap- 
peared. He  says  that  it  is  his  opinion  that,  of  the  sixty 
known  comets,  eight,  by  their  near  approach  to  the  earth, 
might  produce  a  pressure  such  that  the  sea  would  leave  its 
bed  and  cover  a  part  of  the  world." 

In  time,  the  excitement  died  away.  The  fear  of  comets 
assumed  a  new  form.  They  were  no  longer  regarded  as 
indications  of  the  anger  of  God,  but  their  collision  with 
the  earth  was  discussed  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  and 
these  collisions  were  not  considered  free  of  danger.  At  the 


OMEGA.  153 

close  of  the  last  century,  Laplace  stated  his  views  on  this 
question,  in  the  forcible  language  which  we  have  quoted 
in  Chapter  n. 

In  this  century,  predictions  concerning  the  end  of  the 
world  have  several  times  been  associated  with  the  appear- 
ance of  comets.  It  was  announced  that  the  comet  of 
Biela,  for  example,  would  intersect  the  earth's  orbit  on 
October  29,  1832,  which  it  did,  as  predicted.  There 
was  great  excitement.  Once  more  the  end  of  things  was 
declared  at  hand.  Humanity  was  threatened.  What  was 
going  to  happen  ? 

The  orbit,  that  is  to  say  the  path,  of  the  earth  had  been 
confounded  with  the  earth  itself.  The  latter  was  not  to 
reach  that  point  of  its  orbit  traversed  by  the  comet  until 
November  3oth,  more  than  a  month  after  the  comet's 
passage,  and  the  latter  was  at  no  time  to  be  within 
20,000,000  leagues  of  us.  Once  more  we  got  off  with  a 
fright. 

It  was  the  same  in  1857.  Some  prophet  of  ill  omen 
had  declared  that  the  famous  comet  of  Charles  v.,  whose 
periodic  time  was  thought  to  be  three  centuries,  would 
return  on  the  i3th  of  June  of  that  year.  More  than  one 
timid  soul  was  rendered  anxious,  and  the  confessionals  of 
Paris  were  more  than  usually  crowded  with  penitents. 
Another  prediction  was  made  public  in  1872,  in  the  name 
of  an  astronomer,  who,  however,  was  not  responsible  for  it 
— M.  Plantamour,  director  of  the  Geneva  observatory. 


154  OMEGA. 

As  in  the  case  of  comets,  so  with,  other  unusual  phenom- 
ena, such  as  total  solar  eclipses,  mysterious  suns  appearing 
suddenly  in  the  skies,  showers  of  shooting  stars,  great 
volcanic  eruptions  accompanied  with  the  darkness  of 
night  and  seeming  to  threaten  the  burial  of  the  world  in 
ashes,  earthquakes  overthrowing  and  engulfing  houses  and 
cities — all  these  grand  and  terrible  events  have  been  con- 
nected with  the  fear  of  an  immediate  and  universal  end  of 
men  and  things. 

The  history  of  eclipses  alone  would  suffice  to  fill  a  vol- 
ume, no  less  interesting  than  the  history  of  comets.  Con- 
fining our  attention  to  a  modern  example,  one  of  the  last 
total  eclipses  of  the  sun,  visible  in  France,  that  of  August 
12,  1654,  had  been  foretold  by  astronomers,  and  its  an- 
nouncement had  produced  great  alarm.  For  some  it 
meant  the  overthrow  of  states  and  the  fall  of  Rome ;  for 
others  it  signified  a  new  deluge;  there  were  those  who 
believed  that  nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of  the  world 
by  fire  was  inevitable ;  while  the  more  collected  anticipated 
the  poisoning  of  the  atmosphere.  Belief  in  these  dreaded 
results  were  so  widespread,  that,  in  order  to  escape  them, 
and  by  the  express  order  of  physicians,  many  terrified  peo- 
ple shut  themselves  up  in  closed  cellars,  warmed  and  per- 
fumed. We  refer  the  reader,  especially,  to  the  second 
evening  of  L,es  Mondes  of  Fontenelle.  Another  writer  of 
the  same  century,  Petit,  to  whom  we  referred  a  moment 
ago,  in  his  Dissertation  on  the  Nature  of  Comets  says,  that 


OMEGA. 


155 


PEOPLE  SEEKING  REFUGE  IN  CLOSED  CELLARS. 


/5<5  OMEGA. 

the  consternation  steadily  increased  up  to  the  fatal  day, 
and  that  a  country  curate,  unable  to  confess  all  who  be- 
lieved their  last  hour  was  at  hand,  at  sermon  time  told  his 
parishioners  not  to  be  in  such  haste,  for  the  eclipse  had 
been  put  off  for  a  fortnight ;  and  these  good  people  were 
as  ready  to  believe  in  the  postponement  of  the  eclipse  as 
they  had  been  in  its  malign  influence. 

At  the  time  of  the  last  total  solar  eclipses  visible  in 
France,  namely,  those  of  May  12,  1706;  May  22,  1724,  and 
July  8,  1842,  as  also  of  the  partial  ones  of  October  9,  1847; 
July  28,  1851;  March  15,  1858;  July  18,  1860,  and  Decem- 
ber 22,  1870,  there  was  more  or 'less  apprehension  on  the 
part  of  the  timid;  at  least,  we  know,  from  trustworthy 
sources,  that  in  each  of  these  cases  these  natural  phenom- 
ena were  interpreted  by  a  certain  class  in  Europe  as  possi- 
ble signs  of  divine  wrath,  and  in  several  religious  educa- 
tional establishments  the  pupils  were  requested  to  offer  up 
prayers  as  the  time  of  the  eclipse  drew  near.  This  mys- 
tical interpretation  of  the  order  of  nature  is  slowly  disap- 
pearing among  enlightened  nations,  and  the  next  total 
eclipse  of  the  sun,  visible  in  southern  France  on  May  28, 
1900,  will  probably  inspire  no  fear  on  the  French  side  of 
the  Pyrenees  ;  but  it  might  be  premature  to  make  the  same 
statement  regarding  those  who  will  observe  it  from  the 
Spanish  side  of  the  mountains. 

Among  uncivilized  people  these  phenomena  excite  today 
the  same  terror  which  they  once  did  among  us.  This  fact 


OMEGA.  157 

is  frequently  attested  by  travellers,  especially  in  Africa. 
During  the  eclipse  of  July  18,  1860,  in  Algeria,  men 
and  women  resorted  to  prayer  or  fled  affrighted  to  their 
homes.  During  the  eclipse  of  July  29,  1878,  which  was 
total  in  the  United  States,  a  negro,  suddenly  crazed  with 
terror,  and  persuaded  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  com- 
ing, cut  the  throats  of  his  wife  and  children. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  such  phenomena  are  well  cal- 
culated to  overwhelm  the  imagination.  The  sun,  the  god 
of  day,  the  star  upon  whose  light  we  are  dependent,  grows 
dim  ;  and,  just  before  it  becomes  extinguished,  takes  on  a 
sickly  and  mournful  hue.  The  light  of  the  sky  pales, 
the  animal  creation  is  stricken  with  terror,  the  beast  of 
burden  falters  at  his  task,  the  dog  flees  to  its  master,  the 
hen  retreats  with  her  brood  to  the  coop,  the  birds  cease 
their  songs,  and  have  been  seen  even  to  drop  dead  with 
fright.  Arago  relates  that  during  the  total  eclipse  of 
the  sun  at  Perpignan,  on  July  8,  1842,  twenty  thou- 
sand spectators  were  assembled,  forming  an  impressive 
spectacle.  "When  the  solar  disc  was  nearly  obscured, 
an  irresistible  anxiety  took  possession  of  everybody ;  each 
felt  the  need  of  sharing  his  impressions  with  his  neigh- 
bor. A  deep  murmur  arose,  like  that  of  the  far  away 
sea  after  a  storm.  This  murmur  deepened  as  the  crescent 
of  light  grew  less,  and  when  it  had  disappeared  and  sud- 
den darkness  had  supervened,  the  silence  which  ensued 
marked  this  phase  of  the  eclipse  as  accurately  as  the 


i$8  OMEGA. 

pendulum  of  our  astronomical  clock.  The  magnificence 
of  the  spectacle  triumphed  over  the  petulance  of  youth, 
over  the  frivolity  which  some  people  mistake  for  a  sign 
of  superiority,  over  the  indifference  which  the  soldier 
frequently  assumes.  A  profound  silence  reigned  also  in 
the  sky  :  the  birds  had  ceased  their  songs.  After  a  sol- 
emn interval  of  about  two  minutes,  joyous  transports  and 
frantic  applause  greeted  with  the  same  spontaneity  the 
first  reappearance  of  the  solar  rays,  and  the  melancholy  and 
indefinable  sense  of  depression  gave  way  to  a  deep  and  un- 
feigned exultation  which  no  one  sought  to  moderate  or 
repress." 

Every  one  who  witnessed  this  phenomenon,  one  of  the 
most  sublime  which  nature  offers,  was  profoundly  moved, 
and  took  away  with  him  an  impression  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten. The  peasants  especially  were  terrified  by  the  dark- 
ness, as  they  believed  that  they  were  losing  their  sight.  A 
poor  child,  tending  his  flock,  completely  ignorant  of  what 
was  coming,  saw  the  sun  slowly  growing  dim  in  a  cloud- 
less sky.  When  its  light  had  entirely  disappeared  the 
poor  child,  completely  carried  away  by  terror,  began  to  cry 
and  call  for  help.  His  tears  flowed  again  when  the  first 
ray  of  light  reappeared.  Reassured,  he  clasped  his  hands, 
crying,  "  O,  beautiful  sun  !  " 

Is  not  the  cry  of  this  child  the  cry  of  humanity  ? 

So  long  as  eclipses  were  not  known  to  be  the  natural 
consequences  of  the  motion  of  the  moon  about  the  earth, 


OMEGA  . 


159 


and  before  it  was  understood  that  their  occurrence  could 
be  predicted  with  the  utmost  precision,  it  was  natural  that 
they  should  have  produced  a  deep  impression  and  been  as- 
sociated with  the  idea  of  the  end  of  the  world.  The  same 
is  true  of  other  celestial  phenomena  and  notably  of  the 
sudden  appearance  of  unknown  suns,  an  event  much  rarer 
than  an  eclipse. 

The  most  celebrated  of  these  appearances  was  that  of 
1572.  On  the  nth  of  November  of  that  year,  about  a 
month  after  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  a  brilliant 
star  of  the  first  magnitude  suddenly  appeared  in  the  con- 


stellation of  Cassi- 
faction  was  gener- 
part  of  the  public, 
ible  every  night  in 
on  the  part  of  sci- 
not  explain  its  ap- 
ogers  found  a  solu- 
in  the  assertion  that 
the  Magi,  whose 
nounced  the  return 
the  last  judgment 
tion.  This  state- 
impression  upon  all 
The  star  gradually 
splendor,  and  at  the 
teen  months  went 


"O,   BEAUTIFUL  SUN  !" 


opeia.  The  stupe- 
al,  not  only  on  the 
to  which  it  was  vis- 
the  sky,  but  also 
entists,  who  could 
pearance.  Astrol- 
tion  of  the  enigma 
it  was  the  star  of 
reappearance  a  n  - 
of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  the  resurrec- 
ment  made  a  deep 
classes  of  society, 
diminished  in 
end  of  about  eigh- 
out,  without  having 


160  OMEGA. 

caused  any  other  disaster  than  that  which  human  folly 
itself  adds  to  the  misery  of  a  none  too  prosperous  planet. 
Science  records  several  apparitions  of  this  nature,  but  the 
above  was  the  most  remarkable.  A  like  agitation  has  ac- 
companied all  the  grand  phenomena  of  nature,  especially 
those  which  have  been  unforeseen.  In  the  chronicles  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  even  in  more  recent  memoirs,  we  read  of 
the  terror  which  the  aurora  borealis,  showers  of  shooting 
stars  and  the  fall  of  meteorites  have  produced  among  the 
alarmed  spectators.  Recently,  during  the  meteor  shower 
of  November  27,  1873,  when  the  sky  was  rilled  with  more 
than  forty  thousand  meteorites  belonging  to  the  dispersed 
comet  of  Biela,  women  of  the  lower  classes,  at  Nice  es- 
pecially, as  also  at  Rome,  in  their  excitement  sought  infor- 
mation of  those  whom  they  thought  able  to  explain  the 
cause  of  these  celestial  fireworks,  which  they  had  at  once 
associated  with  the  end  of  the  world  and  with  the  fall  of 
the  stars,  which  it  was  foretold  would  usher  in  that  last 
great  event. 

Earthquakes  and  volcanic  eruptions  have  sometimes  at- 
tained such  proportions  as  to  lead  to  the  fear  that  the  end 
of  the  world  was  at  hand.  Imagine  the  state  of  mind  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Herculaneum  and  of  Pompeii  when  the 
eruption  of  Vesuvius  buried  them  in  showers  of  ashes ! 
Was  not  this  for  them  the  end  of  the  world  ?  And  more 
recently,  were  not  those  who  witnessed  the  eruption  of 
Krakatoa  of  the  same  opinion?  Impenetrable  darkness 


OMEGA.  161 

lasting  eighteen  hours,  an  atmosphere  like  a  furnace,  filling 
the  eyes,  nose  and  ears  with  ashes,  the  deep  and  incessant 
cannonade  of  the  volcano,  the  falling  of  pumice  stones  from 
the  black  sky,  the  terrible  scene  illuminated  only  at  inter- 
vals by  the  lurid  lightning  or  the  fire-balls  on  the  spars  and 
rigging  of  vessels,  the  thunder  echoing  from  cloud  and  sea 
with  an  infernal  musketry,  the  shower  of  ashes  turning  into 
a  deluge  of  mud — this  was  the  experience  of  the  passen- 
gers of  a  Java  vessel  during  the  night  of  eighteen  hours, 
from  the  26th  to  the  28th  of  August,  1883,  when  a  portion 
of  the  island  of  Krakatoa  was  hurled  into  the  air,  and  the 
sea,  after  having  first  retreated,  swept  upon  the  shore  to  a 
height  of  thirty-five  meters  and  to  a  distance  of  from  one  to 
ten  kilometers  over  a  coast-line  of  five  hundred  kilometers, 
and  in  the  reflux  carried  away  with  it  the  four  cities,  Tjir- 
ingin,  Merak,  Telok-Betong  and  Anjer,  and  the  entire  pop- 
ulation of  the  region,  more  than  forty  thousand  souls.  For 
a  long  time  the  progress  of  vessels  was  hindered  by  floating 
bodies  inextricably  interlaced ;  and  human  fingers,  with  their 
nails,  and  fragments  of  heads,  with  their  hair  were  found  in 
the  stomachs  of  fishes.  Those  who  escaped,  or  who  saw 
the  catastrophe  from  some  vessel,  and  lived  to  welcome 
again  the  light  of  day,  which  had  seemed  forever  extin- 
guished, relate  in  terror  with  what  resignation  they  ex- 
pected the  end  of  the  world,  persuaded  that  its  very  foun- 
dations were  giving  way  and  that  the  knell  of  a  universal 
doom  had  sounded.  One  eye-witness  assures  us  that  he 


162  OMEGA. 

would  not  again  pass  through  such  an  experience  for  all 
the  wealth  that  could  be  imagined.  The  sun  was  extin- 
guished and  death  seemed  to  reign  sovereign  over  nature. 
This  eruption,  moreover,  was  of  such  terrific  violence  that 
it  was  heard  through  the  earth  at  the  antipodes ;  it  reached 
an  altitude  of  twenty  thousand  meters,  producing  an  at- 
mospheric disturbance  which  made  the  circuit  of  the  entire 
globe  in  thirty-five  hours  (the  barometer  fell  four  milomet- 
ers in  Paris  even),  and  left  for  more  than  a  year  in  the 
upper  layers  of  the  atmosphere  a  fine  dust,  which,  illu- 
mined by  the  sun,  gave  rise  to  those  magnificent  twilight 
displays  admired  so  much  throughout  the  world. 

These  are  formidable  disturbances,  partial  ends  of  the 
world.  Certain  earthquakes  deserve  citation  with  these 
terrible  volcanic  eruptions,  so  disastrous  have  been  their 
consequences.  In  the  earthquake  of  Lisbon,  November  i, 
1755,  thirty  thousand  persons  perished  ;  the  shock  was  felt 
over  an  area  four  times  as  large  as  that  of  Europe.  When 
Ivima  was  destroyed,  October  28,  1724,  the  sea  rose  twenty- 
seven  meters  above  its  ordinary  level,  rushed  upon  the  city 
and  erased  it  so  completely  that  not  a  single  house  was  left. 
Vessels  were  found  in  the  fields  several  kilometers  from  the 
shore.  On  December  10,  1869,  tne  inhabitants  of  the  city 
of  Onlah,  in  Asia  Minor,  alarmed  by  subterranean  noises 
and  a  first  violent  trembling  of  the  earth,  took  refuge  on  a 
neighboring  hilltop,  whence,  to  their  stupefaction,  they  saw 
several  crevasses  open  in  the  city  which  within  a  few 


OMEGA. 


"  FLOATING   BODIES   INEXTRICABLY   INTERLACED.' 


164  OMEGA. 

moments  entirely  disappeared  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
We  have  direct  evidence  that  under  circumstances  far  less 
dramatic,  as  for  example  on  the  occasion  of  the  earthquake 
at  Nice,  February  23,  1887,  the  idea  of  the  end  of  the 
world  was  the  very  first  which  presented  itself  to  the 
mind. 

The  history  of  the  earth  furnishes  a  remarkable  number 
of  like  dramas,  catastrophes  of  a  partial  character,  threat- 
ening the  world's  final  destruction.  It  is  fitting  that  we 
should  devote  a  moment  to  the  consideration  of  these  great 
phenomena,  as  also  to  the  history  of  that  belief  in  the  end 
of  the  world  which  has  appeared  in  every  age,  though  mod- 
ified by  the  progress  of  human  knowledge.  Faith  has  in 
part  disappeared ;  mystery  and  superstition,  which  struck 
the  imagination  of  our  ancestors,  and  which  has  been  so 
curiously  represented  in  the  portals  of  our  great  cathe- 
drals, and  in  the  sculpture  and  painting  inspired  by  Chris- 
tian traditions,  this  theological  aspect  of  the  last  great  day, 
has  given  place  to  the  scientific  study  of  the  probable  life 
of  the  solar  system  to  which  we  belong.  The  geocentric 
and  anthropocentric  conception  of  the  universe,  which 
makes  man  the  center  and  end  of  creation,  has  become  grad- 
ually transformed  and  has  at  last  disappeared ;  for  we 
know  that  our  humble  planet  is  but  an  island  in  the  infi- 
nite, that  human  history  has  thus  far  been  founded  on 
pure  illusions,  and  that  the  dignity  of  man  consists  in 
his  intellectual  and  moral  worth.  Is  not  the  destiny  and 


OMEGA.  165 

sovereign  end  of  the  human  mind  the  exact  knowledge  of 
things,  the  search  after  truth  ? 

During  the  nineteenth  century,  evil  prophets,  more  or 
less  sincere,  have  twenty-five  times  announced  the  end  of 
the  world,  basing  their  prophecies  upon  cabalistic  calcula- 
tions destitute  of  serious  foundation.  Like  predictions 
will  recur  so  long  as  the  race  exists. 

But  this  historic  interlude,  although  opportune,  has  for 
a  moment  interrupted  our  narrative.  Let  us  hasten  to 
return  to  the  twenty-fifth  century,  for  we  have  reached  its 
most  critical  moment. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

INEXORABLY,  with  a  fatality  no  power  could  arrest,  like 
a  projectile  speeding  from  the  mouth  of  a  cannon  toward 
the  target,  the  comet  continued  to  advance,  following  its 
appointed  path,  and  hurrying,  with  an  ever-increasing 
velocity,  toward  the  point  in  space  at  which  the  earth 
would  be  found  on  the  night  of  July  14-15.  The  final 
calculations  were  absolutely  without  error.  These  two 
heavenly  bodies — the  earth  and  the  comet — were  to  meet 
like  two  trains,  rushing  headlong  upon  each  other,  with 
resistless  momentum,  as  if  impelled  to  mutual  destruction 
by  an  insatiable  rage.  But  in  the  present  instance  the 
velocity  of  shock  would  be  865  times  that  of  two  express 
trains  having  each  a  speed  of  one  hundred  kilometers  per 
hour. 


OMEGA.  167 

During  the  night  of  July  13-14,  the  comet  spread  over 
nearly  the  entire  sky,  and  whirlwinds  of  fire  could  be  seen 
by  the  naked  eye,  eddying  about  an  axis  oblique  to  the 
zenith.  The  appearance  was  that  of  an  army  of  flaming 
meteors,  in  whose  midst  the  flashing  lightning  produced 
the  effect  of  a  furious  combat.  The  burning  star  had  a 
revolution  of  its  own,  and  seemed  to  be  convulsed  with 
pain,  like  a  living  thing.  Immense  jets  of  flame  issued 
from  various  centers,  some  of  a  greenish  hue,  others  red  as 
blood,  while  the  most  brilliant  were  of  a  dazzling  white- 
ness. It  was  evident  that  the  sun  was  acting  powerfully 
upon  this  whirlpool  of  gases,  decomposing  certain  of  them, 
forming  detonating  compounds,  electrifying-  the  nearer 
portions,  and  repelling  the  smoke  from  about  the  immense 
nucleus  which  was  bearing  down  upon  the  world.  The 
comet  itself  emitted  a  light  far  different  from  the  sunlight 
reflected  by  the  enveloping  vapors  ;  and  its  flames,  shoot- 
ing forth  in  ever-increasing  volume,  gave  it  the  appearance 
of  a  monster,  precipitating  itself  upon  the  earth  to  devour 
it.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  feature  of  this  spectacle 
was  the  absence  of  all  sound.  At  Paris,  as  elsewhere,  dur- 
ing that  eventful  night,  the  crowd  instinctively  main- 
tained silence,  spellbound  by  an  indescribable  fascination, 
endeavoring  to  catch  some  echo  of  the  celestial  thunder — 
but  not  a  sound  was  heard. 

The  moon  rose  full,  showing  green  upon  the  fiery  back- 
ground of  the  sky,  but  without  brilliancy  and  casting  no 


1 68  OMEGA. 

shadows.  The  night  was  no  more  night,  for  the  stars  had 
disappeared,  and  the  sky  glowed  with  an  intense  light. 

The  comet  was  approaching  the  earth  with  a  velocity 
of  41,000  meters  per  second,  or  2460  kilometers  per  min- 
ute, that  is,  147,600  kilometers  per  hour ;  and  the  earth 
was  itself  travelling  through  space,  from  west  to  east,  at 
the  rate  of  29,000  meters  per  second,  1740  kilometers  per 
minute,  or  104,400  kilometers  per  hour,  in  a  direction 
oblique  to  the  orbit  of  the  comet,  which  for  any  meridian 
appeared  at  midnight  in  the  northeast.  Thus,  in  virtue 
of  their  velocities,  these  two  celestial  bodies  were  nearing 
each  other  at  the  rate  of  173,000  kilometers  per  hour. 
When  observation,  which  was  in  entire  accord  with  the 
computations  previously  made,  established  the  fact  that 
the  nucleus  of  the  comet  was  at  a  distance  no  greater  than 
that  of  the  moon,  everyone  knew  that  two  hours  later  the 
first  phenomena  of  the  coming  shock  would  begin. 

Contrary  to  all  expectation,  Friday  and  Saturday,  the 
1 3th  and  i4th  of  July  were,  like  the  preceding  days,  won- 
derfully beautiful  ;  the  sun  shone  in  a  cloudless  sky,  the 
air  was  tranquil,  the  temperature  rather  high,  but  cooled 
by  a  light,  refreshing  breeze.  Nature  was  in  a  joyous 
mood,  the  country  was  luxuriant  with  beauty,  the  streams 
murmured  in  the  valleys,  the  birds  sang  in  the  woods ; 
but  the  dwelling  places  of  man  were  heartrendingly  sad. 
Humanity  was  prostrated  with  terror,  and  the  impassible 
calm  of  nature  stood  over  against  the  agonizing  fear  of 


OMEGA  . 


169 


the  human  heart  in  painful  and  harrowing  contrast. 
Two  millions  of  people  had  fled  to  Australia  from  Paris, 
London,  Vienna,  Berlin,  St.  Petersburg,  Rome  and  Madrid. 
As  the  day  of  collision  approached,  the  Trans-Atlantic 
Navigation  company  had  been  obliged  to  increase  three- 
fold, fourfold,  and  even  tenfold,  the  number  of  air-ships, 
which  settled  like  flocks  of  birds  upon  San  Francisco, 
Honolulu,  Noumea,  and  the  Australian  cities  of  Mel- 


PEOPLE  LEAVING  PARIS. 


I7o  OMEGA. 

bourne,  Sidney  and  Pax.  But  this  exodus  of  millions 
represented  only  the  fortunate  minority,  and  their  absence 
was  scarcely  noticed  in  the  towns  and  villages,  swarming 
with  restless  and  anxious  life. 

Haunted  by  the  fear  of  unknown  perils,  for  several 
nights  no  one  had  been  able  to  close  their  eyes,  or  even 
dared  to  go  to  bed.  To  do  so,  seemed  to  court  the  last 
sleep  and  to  abandon  all  hope  of  awakening  again.  Every 
face  was  livid  with  terror,  every  eye  was  sunken  ;  the  hair 
was  dishevelled,  the  countenance  haggard  and  stamped 
with  the  impress  of  the  most  frightful  anguish  which  had 
ever  preyed  upon  the  human  soul. 

The  atmosphere  was  growing  drier  and  warmer.  Since 
the  evening  before,  no  one  had  bethought  himself  of  food, 
and  the  stomach,  usually  so  imperious  in  its  demands, 
craved  for  nothing.  A  burning  thirst  was  the  first  physio- 
logical effect  of  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
most  self-restrained  sought,  in  every  possible  way,  to 
quench  it,  though  without  success.  Physical  pain  had 
begun  its  work,  and  was  soon  to  dominate  mental  suffer- 
ing. Hour  by  hour,  respiration  became  more  difficult, 
more  exhausting  and  more  painful.  Little  children,  in 
the  presence  of  this  new  suffering,  appealed  in  tears  to 
their  mothers. 

At  Paris,  London,  Rome  and  St.  Petersburg,  in  every 
capital,  in  every  city,  in  every  village,  the  terrified  popu- 
lation wandered  about  distractedly,  like  ants  when  their 


OMEGA  . 


171 


"  STRANGERS   TO   THE  UNIVERSAL   PANIC." 

habitations  are  disturbed.  All  the  business  of  ordinary 
life  was  neglected,  abandoned,  forgotten ;  every  project 
was  set  aside.  No  one  cared  any  longer  for  anything,  for 
his  house,  his  family,  his  life.  There  existed  a  moral 
prostration  and  dejection,  more  complete  than  even  that 
which  is  produced  by  sea-sickness.  Some  few,  abandon- 
ing themselves  to  the  exaltation  of  love,  seemed  to  live 
only  for  each  other,  strangers  to  the  universal  panic. 

Catholic   and  Protestant  churches,  Jewish  synagogues, 
Greek  chapels,  Mohammedan  mosques  and  Buddhist  tern- 


172  OMEGA. 

pies,  the  sanctuaries  of  the  new  Galilean  religion — in 
short,  the  places  of  assembly  of  every  sect  into  which  the  id- 
iosyncrasies of  belief  had  divided  mankind,  were  thronged 
by  the  faithful  on  that  memorable  day  of  Friday,  July 
1 3th  ;  and  even  at  Paris  the  crowds  besieging  the  portals 
were  such  that  no  one  could  get  near  the  churches,  within 
which  were  to  be  seen  vast  multitudes,  all  prostrate  upon 
the  ground.  Prayers  were  muttered  in  low  tones,  but  no 
chant,  no  organ,  no  bell  was  to  be  heard.  The  confes- 
sionals were  surrounded  by  penitents,  waiting  their  turn, 
as  in  those  early  days  of  sincere  and  naive  faith  described 
by  the  historians  of  the  middle  ages. 

Everywhere  on  the  streets  and  on  the  boulevards  the 
same  silence  reigned  ;  not  a  sound  disturbed  the  hush, 
nothing  was  sold,  no  paper  was  printed ;  aviators,  aero- 
planes, dirigible  balloons  were  no  more  to  be  seen  ;  the 
only  vehicles  passing  were  the  hearses  bearing  to  the 
crematories  the  first  victims  of  the  comet,  already  numer- 
ous. The  days  of  July  i3th  and  i4th  had  passed  without 
incident,  but  with  what  anxiety  the  fateful  night  was 
awaited  !  Never,  perhaps,  had  there  been  so  magnificent 
a  sunset,  never  a  sky  so  pure  !  The  orb  of  day  seemed 
to  go  down  in  a  sea  of  gold  and  purple ;  its  red  disc  dis- 
appeared below  the  horizon,  but  the  stars  did  not  rise — 
and  night  did  not  come !  To  the  daylight  succeeded  a 
day  of  cometary  and  lunar  splendor,  illuminated  by  a 
dazzling  light,  recalling  that  of  the  aurora  borealis,  but 


OMEGA.  173 

more  intense,  emanating  from  an  immense  blazing  focus, 
which  had  not  been  visible  during  the  day  because  it  had 
been  below  the  horizon,  but  which  would  certainly  have 
rivalled  the  sun  in  brilliancy.  Amid  the  universal  plaint 
of  nature,  this  luminous  center  rose  in  the  west  almost  at 
the  same  time  with  the  full  moon,  which  climbed  the  sky 
with  it  like  a  sacrificial  victim  ascending  the  funeral  pyre. 
The  moon  paled  as  it  mounted  higher,  but  the  comet 
increased  in  brightness  as  the  sun  sank  below  the  western 
horizon,  and  now,  when  the  hour  of  night  had  come,  it 
reigned  supreme,  a  vaporous,  scarlet  sun,  with  flames  of 
yellow  and  green,  like  immense  extended  wings.  To  the 
terrified  spectator  it  seemed  some  enormous  giant,  taking 
sovereign  possession  of  earth  and  sky. 

Already  the  cometary  fringes  had  invaded  the  lunar 
orbit.  At  any  moment  they  would  reach  the  rarer  limits 
of  the  earth's  atmosphere,  only  two  hundred  kilometers 
away. 

Then  everyone  beheld,  as  it  were,  a  vast  conflagration, 
kindled  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  horizon,  throwing 
skyward  little  violet  flames,  and  almost  immediately  the 
brilliancy  of  the  comet  diminished,  doubtless  because  just 
before  touching  the  earth  it  had  entered  into  the  shadow 
of  the  planet  and  had  lost  that  part  of  its  light  which 
came  from  the  sun.  This  apparent  decrease  in  brilliancy 
was  chiefly  due  to  contrast,  for  when  the  eye,  less  dazzled, 
had  become  accustomed  to  this  new  light,  it  seemed 


274  OMEGA. 

almost  as  intense  as  the  former,  but  of  a  sickly,  lurid, 
sepulchral  hue.  Never  before  had  the  earth  been  bathed 
in  such  a  light,  which  at  first  seemed  to  be  colorless, 
emitting  lightning  flashes  from  its  pale  and  wan  depths. 
The  dryness  of  the  air,  hot  as  the  breath  of  a  furnace, 
became  intolerable,  and  a  horrible  odor  of  sulphur,  prob- 
ably due  to  the  super-electrified  ozone,  poisoned  the  atmos- 
phere. Everyone  believed  his  last  hour  was  at  hand.  A 
terrible  cry  dominated  every  other  sound.  The  earth  is 
on  fire  !  The  earth  is  on  fire  !  Indeed,  the  entire  horizon 
was  now  illuminated  by  a  ring  of  bluish  flame,  surround- 
ing the  earth  like  the  flames  of  a  funeral  pile.  This,  as 
had  been  predicted,  was  the  carbonic-oxide,  whose  com- 
bustion in  the  air  produced  carbonic-anhydride. 

Suddenly,  as  the  terrified  spectator  gazed  silent  and 
awestruck,  holding  his  very  breath  in  a  stupor  of  fear,  the 
vault  of  heaven  seemed  rent  asunder  from  zenith  to  hori- 
zon, and  from  this  yawning  chasm,  as  from  an  enormous 
mouth,  was  vomited  forth  jets  of  dazzling  greenish  flame, 
enveloping  the  earth  in  a  glare  so  blinding,  that  all  who 
had  not  already  sought  shelter,  men  and  women,  the  old 
and  the  young,  the  bold  as  well  as  the  timid,  all  rushed 
with  the  impetuosity  of  an  avalanche  to  the  cellarways, 
already  choked  with  people.  Many  were  crushed  to  death, 
or  succumbed  to  apoplexy,  aneurismal  ruptures,  and  wild 
delirium  resulting  in  brain  fever. 

On  the  terraces  and  in  the  observatories,  however,  the 


OMEGA,  175 

astronomers  had  remained  at  their  posts,  and  several  had 
succeeded  in  taking  an  uninterrupted  series  of  photographs 
of  the  sky  changes  ;  and  from  this  time,  but  for  a  very 
brief  interval,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  courageous 
spirits,  who  dared  to  gaze  upon  the  awful  spectacle  from 
behind  the  windows  of  some  upper  apartment,  they  were 
the  sole  witnesses  of  the  collision. 

Computation  had  indicated  that  the  earth  would  pene- 
trate the  heart  of  the  comet  as  a  bullet  would  penetrate  a 
cloud,  and  that  the  transit,  reckoning  from  the  first  instant 
of  contact  of  the  outer  zones  of  the  comet's  atmosphere 
with  those  of  the  earth,  would  consume  four  and  one-half 
hours, — a  fact  easily  established,  inasmuch  as  the  comet, 
having  a  diameter  about  sixty-five  times  that  of  the  earth, 
would  be  traversed,  not  centrally,  but  at  one-quarter  of  the 
distance  from  the  center,  with  a  velocity  of  about  173,000 
kilometers  per  hour.  Nearly  forty  minutes  after  the  first 
instant  of  contact,  the  heat  of  this  incandescent  furnace, 
and  the  horrible  odor  of  sulphur,  became  so  suffocating 
that  a  few  moments  more  of  such  torture  would  have 
sufficed  to  destroy  every  vestige  of  life.  Even  the  astron- 
omers crept  painfully  from  room  to  room  within  the  ob- 
servatories which  they  had  endeavored  to  close  hermeti- 
cally, and  sought  shelter  in  the  cellars  ;  and  the  young 
computer,  whose  acquaintance  we  have  already  made,  was 
the  last  to  remain  on  the  terrace,  at  Paris, — a  few  seconds 
only,  but  long  enough  to  witness  the  explosion  of  a  for- 


OMEGA  . 


midable  bolide,  which  was  rushing  southward  with  the 
velocity  of  lightning.  But  strength  was  lacking  for  fur- 
ther observations.  One  could  breathe  no  longer.  Besides 
the  heat  and  the  dryness,  so  destructive  to  every  vital 
function,  there  was  the  carbonic-oxide  which  was  already 
beginning  to  poison  the  atmosphere.  The  ears  were  filled 
with  a  dull,  roaring  sound,  the  heart  beat  ever  more  and 

more  violently;  and  still 
this  choking  odor  of 
sulphur !  At  the  same 
time  a  fiery  rain  fell 
from  every  quarter  of 
the  sky,  a  rain  of  shoot- 
ing stars,  the  immense 
majority  of  which  did 
not  reach  the  earth,  al- 
though many  fell  upon 
the  roofs,  and  the  fires 
which  they  kindled 
could  be  seen  in  every 
direction.  To  these  fires 
from  heaven  the  fires  of  earth  now  made  answer,  and 
the  world  was  surrounded  with  electric  flashes,  as  by  an 
army.  Everyone,  without  thinking  for  an  instant  of 
flight,  had  abandoned  all  hope,  expecting  every  moment 
to  be  buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  world,  and  those  who 
still  clung  to  each  other,  and  whose  only  consolation  was 


A   FIERY   RAIN    FELL   FROM    EVERY   QUARTER 
OF   THE   SKY." 


OMEGA.  777 

that  of  dying   together,  clung  closer,  in  a  last   embrace. 

But  the  main  body  of  the  celestial  army  had  passed,  and 
a  sort  of  rarefaction,  of  vacuum,  was  produced  in  the 
atmosphere,  perhaps  as  the  result  of  meteoric  explosions  ; 
for  suddenly  the  windows  were  shattered,  blown  outwards, 
and  the  doors  opened  of  themselves.  A  violent  wind 
arose,  adding  fury  to  the  conflagration.  Then  the  rain 
fell  in  torrents,  but  reanimating  at  the  same  time  the 
extinguished  hope  of  life,  and  waking  mankind  from  its 
nightmare. 

"  The  XXVth  Century  !  Death  of  the  Pope  and  all  the 
bishops  !  Fall  of  the  comet  at  Rome  !  Paper,  sir  f  " 

Scarcely  a  half  hour  had  passed  before  people  began  to 
issue  from  their  cellars,  feeling  again  the  joy  of  living, 
and  recovering  gradually  from  their  apathy.  Even  before 
one  had  really  begun  to  take  any  account  of  the  fires 
which  were  still  raging,  notwithstanding  the  deluge  or 
rain,  the  scream  of  the  newsboy  was  heard  in  the  hardly 
awakened  streets.  Everywhere,  at  Paris,  Marseilles,  Brus- 
sels, London,  Vienna,  Turin  and  Madrid,  the  same  news 
was  being  shouted,  and  before  caring  for  the  fires  which 
were  spreading  on  every  side,  everyone  bought  the  popu- 
lar one-cent  sheet,  with  its  sixteen  illustrated  pages  fresh 
from  the  press. 

"  The  Pope  and  the  cardinals  crushed  to  death  !  The 
sacred  college  destroyed  by  the  comet  !  Extra  !  Extra  !  " 

The    newsboys    drove    a    busy   trade,  for  everyone  was 


I78 


OMEGA  . 


anxious  to  know  the  truth,  of  these  an- 
nouncements, and  eagerly  bought  the 
great  popular  socialistic  paper. 

This  is  what  had  taken  place.  The 
American  Hebrew,  to  whom  we  have  al- 
ready referred,  and  who,  on  the  preced- 
ing Tuesday,  had  managed  to  make  sev- 
eral millions  by  the  reopening  of  the 
Paris  and  Chicago  exchanges,  had  not 
"EXTRA!"  for  a  moment  yielded  to  despair,  and,  as 

in  other  days,  the  monasteries  had  accepted  bequests  made 
in  view  of  the  end  of  the  world,  so  our  indefatigable 
speculator  had  thought  best  to  remain  at  his  telephone, 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  taken  down  for  the  nonce  into 
a  vast  subterranean  gallery,  hermetically  closed.  Con- 
trolling special  wires  uniting  Paris  with  the  principal  cities 
of  the  world,  he  was  in  constant  communication  with 
them.  The  nucleus  of  the  comet  had  contained  within 
its  mass  of  incandescent  gas  a  certain  number  of  solid 
uranolites,  some  of  which  measured  several  kilometers  in 
diameter.  One  of  these  masses  had  struck  the  earth  not 
far  from  Rome,  and  the  Roman  correspondent  had  sent 
the  following  news  by  phonogram  : 

"  All  the  cardinals  and  prelates  of  the  council  were 
assembled  in  solemn  fete  under  the  dome  of  St.  Peter.  In 
this  grandest  temple  of  Christendom,  splendidly  illumina- 
ted at  the  solemn  hour  of  midnight,  amid  the  pious  invo- 


OMEGA.  770 

cations  of  the  chanting  brotherhoods,  the  altars  smoking 
with  the  perfumed  incense,  and  the  organs  filling  the 
recesses  of  the  immense  church  with  their  tones  of  thun- 
der, the  Pope,  seated  upon  his  throne,  saw  prostrate  at  his 
feet  his  faithful  people  from  every  quarter  of  the  world  ; 
but  as  he  rose  to  pronounce  the  final  benediction  a  mass  of 
iron,  half  as  large  as  the  city  itself,  falling  from  the  sky 
with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  crushed  the  assembled 
multitudes,  precipitating  them  into  an  abyss  of  unknown 
depth,  a  veritable  pit  of  hell.  All  Italy  was  shaken,  and 
the  roar  of  the  thunder  was  heard  at  Marseilles." 

The  bolide  had  been  seen  in  every  city  throughout 
Italy,  through  the  showers  of  meteorites  and  the  burning  at- 
mosphere. It  had  illumined  the  earth  like  a  new  sun  with  a 
brilliant  red  light,  and  a  terrible  rending  had  followed  its 
fall,  as  if  the  sky  had  really  been  split  from  top  to  bottom. 
(This  was  the  bolide  which  the  young  calculator  of  the  ob- 
servatory of  Paris  had  observed  when,  in  spite  of  her  zeal, 
the  suffocating  fumes  had  driven  her  from  the  terrace.) 

Seated  at  his  telephone,  our  speculator  received  his 
despatches  and  gave  his  orders,  dictating  sensational  news 
to  his  journal,  which  was  printed  simultaneously  in  all 
the  principal  cities  of  the  world.  A  quarter  of  an  hour 
later  these  despatches  appeared  on  the  first  page  of  the 
xxvth  Century,  in  New  York,  St.  Petersburg  and  Mel- 
bourne, as  also  in  the  capitals  nearer  Paris  ;  an  hour  after 
the  first  edition  a  second  was  announced. 


i8o  OMEGA. 

"Paris  inflames!  The  cities  of  Europe  destroyed!  Rome 
in  ashes  !  Here's  your  XXVth  Century,  second  edition  !  " 

And  in  this  new  edition  there  was  a  very  closely  written 
article,  from  the  pen  of  an  accomplished  correspondent, 
dealing  with  the  consequences  of  the  destruction  of  the 
sacred  college. 

"  Twenty-fifth  Century,  fourth  edition  !  New  volcano 
in  Italy  !  Revolution  in  Naples  !  Paper,  sir  f  " 

The  second  had  been  followed  by  the  fourth  edition 
without  any  regard  to  a  third.  It  told  how  a  bolide, 
weighing  ten  thousand  tons,  or  perhaps  more,  had  fallen 
with  the  velocity  above  stated  upon  the  solfatara  of  Poz- 
zuoli,  penetrating  and  breaking  in  the  light  and  hollow 
crust  of  the  ancient  crater.  The  flames  below  had  burst 
forth  in  a  new  volcano,  which,  with  Vesuvius,  illuminated 
the  Blysian  fields. 

"  Twenty-fifth  Century,  sixth  edition  !  New  island  in 
the  Mediterranean!  Conquests  of  England 7" 

A  fragment  of  the  head  of  the  comet  had  fallen  into  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  west  of  Rome,  forming  an  irregular 
island,  fifteen  hundred  meters  in  length  by  seven  hundred 
in  width,  with  an  altitude  of  about  two  hundred  meters. 
The  sea  had  boiled  about  it,  and  huge  tidal  waves  had 
swept  the  shores.  But  there  happened  to  be  an  English- 
man nearby,  whose  first  thought  was  to  land  in  a  creek  of 
the  newly  formed  island,  and  scaling  a  rock,  to  plant  the 
British  flag  upon  its  highest  peak. 


OMEGA.  181 

Millions  of  copies  of  the  journal  of  the  famous  specula- 
tor were  distributed  broadcast  over  the  world  during  this 
night  of  July  i4th,  with  accounts  of  the  disaster,  dictated 
by  telephone  from  the  office  of  its  director,  who  had  taken 
measures  to  monopolize  every  item  of  news.  Everywhere 
these  editions  were  eagerly  read,  even  before  the  necessary 
precautions  were  taken  to  extinguish  the  conflagrations 
still  raging.  From  the  outset,  the  rain  had  afforded  unex- 
pected succor,  yet  the  material  losses  were  immense,  not- 
withstanding the  prevailing  use  of  iron  in  building  con- 
struction. 

"  Twenty-fifth  Century,  tenth  edition  !  Great  miracle 
at  Rome  !  " 

What  miracle,  it  was  easy  enough  to  explain.  In  this 
latest  edition,  the  xxvth  Century  announced  that  its  cor- 
respondent at  Rome  had  given  circulation  to  a  rumor 
which  proved  to  be  without  foundation ;  that  the  bolide 
had  not  destroyed  Rome  at  all,  but  had  fallen  quite  a  dis- 
tance outside  the  city.  St.  Peter  and  the  Vatican  had 
been  miraculously  preserved.  But  hundreds  of  millions  of 
copies  were  sold  in  every  country  of  the  world.  It  was  an 
excellent  stroke  of  business. 

The  crisis  had  passed.  Little  by  little,  men  recovered 
their  self-possession,  rejoicing  in  the  mere  fact  of  living. 

Throughout  the  night,  the  sky  overhead  was  illumi- 
nated by  the  lurid  light  of  the  comet,  and  by  the  meteor- 
ites which  still  fell  in  showers,  kindled  on  every  side  new 


OMEGA 


THE  COUNCIL  ASSEMBLED   UNDER   THE  DOME   OF  ST.    PETER'S. 


OMEGA.  183 

conflagrations.  When  day  came,  about  half  past  three  in 
the  morning,  more  than  three  hours  had  passed  since  the 
head  of  the  comet  had  collided  with  the  earth  ;  the 
nucleus  had  passed  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  and  the 
earth  was  still  entirely  buried  in  the  tail.  The  shock  had 
taken  place  at  eighteen  minutes  after  midnight ;  that  is  to 
say,  fifty-eight  minutes  after  midnight,  Paris  time,  exactly 
as  predicted  by  the  president  of  the  Astronomical  society 
of  France,  whose  statement  our  readers  may  remember. 
Although,  at  the  instant  of  collision,  the  greater  part  of 
the  hemisphere  on  the  side  of  the  comet  had  been  effected 
by  the  constricting  dryness,  the  suffocating  heat  and  the 
poisonous  sulphurous  odors,  as  well  as  by  deadening 
stupor,  due  to  the  resistance  encountered  by  the  comet 
in  traversing  the  atmosphere,  the  supersaturation  of  the 
ozone  with  electricity,  and  the  mixture  of  nitrogen  pro- 
toxide with  the  upper  air,  the  other  hemisphere  had  expe- 
rienced no  other  disturbance  than  that  which  followed 
inevitably  from  the  destroyed  atmospheric  equilibrium. 
Fortunately,  the  comet  had  only  skimmed  the  earth,  and 
the  shock  had  not  been  central.  Doubtless,  also,  the 
attraction  of  the  earth  had  had  much  to  do  with  the  fall 
of  the  bolides  in  Italy  and  the  Mediterranean.  At  all 
events,  the  orbit  of  the  comet  had  been  entirely  altered  by 
this  perturbation,  while  the  earth  and  the  moon  continued 
tranquilly  on  their  way  about  the  sun,  as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  The  orbit  of  the  comet  had  been  changed  by 


184  OMEGA. 

the  earth's  attraction  from  a  parabola  to  an  ellipse,  its 
aphelion  being  situated  near  the  ecliptic.  When  later 
statistics  of  the  comet's  victims  were  obtained,  it  was 
found  that  the  number  of  the  dead  was  one-fortieth  of  the 
population  of  Europe.  In  Paris  alone,  which  extended 
over  a  part  of  the  departments  formerly  known  as  the 
Seine  and  Seine-et-Oise,  and  which  contained  nine  million 
inhabitants,  there  was  more  than  two  hundred  thousand 
deaths. 

Prior  to  the  fatal  week,  the  mortality  had  increased 
threefold,  and  on  the  loth  fourfold.  This  rate  of  increase 
had  been  arrested  by  the  confidence  produced  by  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Institute,  and  had  even  diminished  sensibly 
during  Wednesday.  Unfortunately,  as  the  threatening 
star  drew  near,  the  panic  had  resumed  its  sway.  On  the 
following  Thursday  the  normal  mortality  rate  had  in- 
creased fivefold,  and  those  of  weak  constitution  had  suc- 
cumbed. On  Friday,  the  I3th,  the  day  before  the  dis- 
aster, owing  to  privations  of  every  kind,  the  absence  of 
food  and  sleep,  the  heat  and  feverish  condition  which  it 
induced,  the  effect  of  the  excitement  upon  the  heart  and 
brain,  the  mortality  at  Paris  had  reached  the  hitherto 
unheard  of  figure  of  ten  thousand  !  On  the  eventful  night 
of  the  1 4th,  owing  to  the  crowded  condition  of  the  cellars, 
the  vitiation  of  the  atmosphere  by  the  carbonic-oxide  gas, 
and  suffocation  due  to  the  drying  up  of  the  lining  mem- 
brane of  the  throat,  pulmonary  congestion,  anaesthesia, 


OMEGA.  iB5 

and  arrest  of  the  circulation,  the  victims  were  more  num- 
erous than  those  of  the  battles  of  former  times,  the  total 
for  that  day  reaching  the  enormous  sum  of  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand.  Some  of  those  mortally  effected  lived 
until  the  following  day,  and  a  certain  number  survived 
longer,  but  in  a  hopeless  condition.  Not  until  a  week 
had  elapsed  was  the  normal  death-rate  re-established.  Dur- 
ing this  disastrous  month  17,500  children  were  born  at 
Paris,  but  nearly  all  died.  Medical  statistics,  subtracting 
from  the  general  total  the  normal  mean,  based  upon  a 
death-rate  of  twenty  for  every  one  thousand  inhabitants, 
that  is,  492  per  day,  or  15,252  for  the  month,  which  repre- 
sents the  number  of  those  who  would  have  died  indepen- 
dently of  the  comet,  ascribed  to  the  latter  the  difference 
between  these  two  numbers,  namely,  222,633  ;  of  these, 
more  than  one-half,  or  more  than  one  hundred  thousand, 
died  of  fear,  by  syncope,  aneurisms  or  cerebral  congestions. 

But  this  cataclysm  did  not  bring  about  the  end  of  the 
world.  The  losses  were  made  good  by  an  apparent  in- 
crease in  human  vitality,  such  as  had  been  observed  for- 
merly after  destructive  wars  ;  the  earth  continued  to 
revolve  in  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  humanity  to  advance 
toward  a  still  higher  destiny. 

The  comet  had,  above  all,  been  the  pretext  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  every  possible  phase  of  this  great  and  important 
subject — the  end  of  the  world. 


OMEGA  . 


GIRLS  REFUSING  TO  MARRY. 


SECOND    PART, 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE  events  which  we  have  just  described,  and  the  dis- 
cussions to  which  they  gave  rise,  took  place  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era.  Humanity  was  not 
destroyed  by  the  shock  of  the  comet,  although  this  was 
the  most  memorable  event  in  its  entire  history,  and  one 
never  forgotten,  notwithstanding  the  many  transforma- 
tions which  the  race  has  since  undergone.  The  earth 
had  continued  to  rotate  and  the  sun  to  shine  ;  little  chil- 
dren had  become  old  men,  and  their  places  had  been  filled 
by  others  in  the  eternal  succession  of  generations.  Cen- 
turies and  ages  had  succeeded  each  other,  and  humanity, 
slowly  advancing  in  knowledge  and  happiness,  through 
a  thousand  transitory  interruptions,  had  reached  its  apogee 
and  accomplished  its  destiny. 

But  how  vast  these  series  of  transformations — physical 
and  mental  ! 

The  population  of  Europe,  from  the  year  1900  to  the 
year  3000,  had  increased  from  375  to  700  millions  ;  that 


i88  OMEGA. 

of  Asia,  from  875  to  1000  millions  ;  that  of  the  Americas, 
from  1 20  to  1500  millions  ;  that  of  Africa,  from  75  to  200 
millions  ;  that  of  Australia,  from  5  to  60  millions  ;  which, 
for  the  total  population  of  the  globe,  gives  an  increase  of 
20 1 o  millions.  And  this  inciease  had  continued,  with 
some  fluctuations. 

Language  had  become  transformed.  The  never-ceasing 
progress  of  science  and  industry  had  created  a  large  num- 
ber of  new  words,  generally  of  Greek  derivation.  At  the 
same  time,  the  English  language  had  spread  over  the 
entire  world.  From  the  twenty-fifth  to  the  thirtieth  cen- 
turies, the  spoken  language  of  Europe  was  based  upon  a 
mixture  of  English,  of  French,  and  of  Greek  derivatives. 
Every  effort  to  create  artificially  a  new  universal  language 
had  failed. 

L,ong  before  the  twenty-fifth  century,  war  had  disap- 
peared, and  it  became  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  race 
which  pretended  to  knowledge  and  reason  could  have 
endured  so  long  the  yoke  of  clever  rascals  who  lived  at  its 
expense.  In  vain  had  later  sovereigns  proclaimed,  in 
high-sounding  words,  that  war  was  a  divine  institution  ; 
that  it  was  the  natural  result  of  the  struggle  for  existence  ; 
that  it  constituted  the  noblest  of  professions  ;  that  patriot- 
ism was  the  chief  of  virtues.  In  vain  were  battle-fields 
called  fields  of  honor  ;  in  vain  were  the  statues  of  the 
victors  erected  in  the  most  populous  cities.  It  was,  at 
last,  observed  that,  with  the  exception  of  certain  ants, 


OMEGA.  189 

no  animal  species  had  set  an  example  of  such  boundless 
folly  as  the  human  race  ;  that  the  struggle  for  life  did  not 
consist  in  slaughtering  one  another,  but  in  the  conquest  of 
nature  ;  that  all  the  resources  of  humanity  were  absolutely 
wasted  in  the  bottomless  gulf  of  standing  armies ;  and 
that  the  mere  obligation  of  military  service,  as  formulated 
by  law,  was  an  encroachment  upon  human  liberty,  so 
serious  that,  under  the  guise  of  honor,  slavery  had  been 
re-established. 

Men  perceived  that  the  military  system  meant  the  main- 
tenance of  an  army  of  parasites  and  idlers,  yielding  a  pas- 
sive obedience  to  the  orders  of  diplomats,  who  were  sim- 
ply speculating  upon  human  credulity.  In  early  times, 
war  had  been  carried  on  between  villages,  for  the  advan- 
tage and  glory  of  chieftains,  and  this  kind  of  petty  warfare 
still  prevailed  in  the  nineteenth  century,  between  the  vil- 
lages of  central  Africa,  where  even  young  men  and  women, 
persuaded  of  their  slavery,  were  seen,-  at  certain  times,  to 
present  themselves  voluntarily  at  the  places  where  they 
were  to  be  sacrificed.  Reason  having,  at  last,  begun  to 
prevail,  men  had  then  formed  themselves  into  provinces, 
and  a  warfare  between  provinces  arose — Athens  contend- 
ing with  Sparta,  Rome  with  Carthage,  Paris  with  Dijon ; 
and  history  had  celebrated  the  glorious  wars  of  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy  against  the  king  of  France,  of  the  Normans 
against  the  Parisians,  of  the  Belgians  against  the  Flemish, 
of  the  Saxons  against  the  Bavarians,  of  the  Venetians 


igo  OMEGA. 

against  the  Florentines,  etc.,  etc.  Later,  nations  had  been 
formed,  thus  doing  away  with  provincial  flags  and  boun- 
daries ;  but  men  continued  to  teach  their  children  to  hate 
their  neighbors,  and  citizens  were  accoutred  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  mutual  extermination.  Interminable  wars 
arose,  wars  ceaselessly  renewed,  between  France,  England, 
Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  Austria,  Russia,  Turkey,  etc.  The 
development  of  weapons  of  destruction  had  kept  pace  with 
the  progress  of  chemistry,  mechanics,  aeronautics,  and 
most  of  the  other  sciences,  and  theorists  were  to  be  found, 
especially  among  statesmen,  who  declared  that  war  was 
the  necessary  condition  of  progress,  forgetting  that  it  was 
only  the  sorry  heritage  of  barbarism,  and  that  the  majority 
of  those  who  have  contributed  to  the  progress  of  science 
and  industry,  electricity,  physics,  mechanics,  etc.,  have  all 
been  the  most  pacific  of  men.  Statistics  had  proved  that 
war  regularly  claimed  forty  million  victims  per  century, 
noo  per  day,  without  truce  or  intermission,  and  had 
made  1200  million  corpses  in  three  thousand  years.  It 
was  not  surprising  that  nations  had  been  exhausted  and 
ruined,  since  in  the  nineteenth  century  alone  they  had 
expended,  to  this  end,  the  sum  of  700,000  million  francs. 
These  divisions,  appealing  to  patriotic  sentiments  skill- 
fully kept  alive  by  politicians  who  lived  upon  them,  long 
prevented  Europe  from  imitating  the  example  of  America 
in  the  suppression  of  its  armies,  which  consumed  all  its 
yital  forces  and  wasted  yearly  more  than  ten  thousand 


OMEGA.  191 

million  francs  of  the  resources  acquired  at  such  sacrifice 
by  the  laborer,  and  from  forming  a  United  States  of 
Europe.  But  though  man  could  not  make  up  his  mind 
to  do  away  with  the  tinsel  of  national  vanity,  woman  came 
to  his  rescue. 

Under  the  inspiration  of  a  woman  of  spirit,  a  league 
was  formed  of  the  mothers  of  Europe,  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  their  children,  especially  their  daughters,  to  a 
horror  of  the  barbarities  of  war.  The  folly  of  men,  the 
frivolity  of  the  pretexts  which  arrayed  nations  against 
each  other,  the  knavery  of  statesmen  who  moved  heaven 
and  earth  to  excite  patriotism  and  blind  the  eyes  of  peo- 
ples ;  the  absolute  uselessness  of  the  wars  of  the  past  and 
of  that  European  equilibrium  which  was  always  disturbed 
and  never  established  ;  the  ruin  of  nations  ;  fields  of  battle 
strewn  with  the  dead  and  the  mangled,  who,  an  hour 
before,  lived  joyously  in  the  bountiful  sun  of  nature  ; 
widows  and  orphans — in  short,  all  the  misery  of  war  was 
forced  upon  the  mind,  by  conversation,  recital  and  reading. 
In  a  single  generation,  this  rational  education  had  freed 
the  young  from  this  remnant  of  animalism,  and  inculcated 
a  sentiment  of  profound  horror  for  all  which  recalled  the 
barbarism  of  other  days.  Still,  governments  refused  to 
disarm,  and  the  war  budget  was  voted  from  year  to  year. 
It  was  then  that  the  young  girls  resolved  never  to  marry  a 
man  who  had  borne  arms ;  and  they  kept  their  vow. 

The  early  years  of  this  league  were  trying  ones,  even 


192  OMEGA. 

for  the  young  girls  :  for  the  choice  of  more  than  one  fell 
upon  some  fine-looking  officer,  and,  but  for  the  universal 
reprobation,  her  heart  might  have  yielded.  There  were,  it 
is  true,  some  desertions  ;  but,  as  those  who  formed  these 
marriages  were,  from  the  outset,  despised  and  ostracized 
by  society,  they  were  not  numerous.  Public  opinion  was 
formed,  and  it  was  impossible  to  stem  the  tide. 

For  about  five  years  there  was  scarcely  a  single  marriage 
or  union.  Every  citizen  was  a  soldier,  in  France,  in  Ger- 
many, in  Italy,  in  Spain,  in  every  nation  of  Europe — all 
ready  for  a  confederation  of  States,  but  never  recoiling 
before  questions  represented  by  the  national  flag.  The 
women  held  their  ground ;  they  felt  that  truth  was  011 
their  side,  but  their  firmness  would  deliver  humanity  from 
the  slavery  which  oppressed  it,  and  that  they  could  not 
fail  of  victory.  To  the  passionate  objurgations  of  certain 
men,  they  replied :  "  No  ;  we  will  have  nothing  more  to 
do  with  fools  ;  "  and,  if  this  state  of  affairs  continued,  they 
had  decided  to  keep  their  vow,  or  to  emigrate  to  America, 
where,  centuries  before,  the  military  system  had  disap- 
peared. 

The  most  eloquent  appeals  for  disarmament  were  made 
at  every  session  to  the  committee  of  administrators  of  the 
state,  formerly  called  deputies  or  senators.  Finally,  after 
a  lapse  of  five  years,  face  to  face  with  this  wall  of  feminine 
opposition,  which,  day  by  day,  grew  stronger  and  more 
impregnable,  the  deputies  of  every  country,  as  if  animated 


OMEGA. 


193 


194  OMEGA. 

by  a  common  motive,  eloquently  advocated  the  cause  of 
women,  and  that  very  week  disarmament  was  voted  in 
Germany,  France,  Italy,  Austria  and  Spain. 

It  was  spring-time.  There  was  no  disorder.  Innumer- 
able marriages  followed.  Russia  and  England  had  held 
aloof  from  the  movement,  the  suffrage  of  women  in  these 
countries  not  having  been  unanimous.  But  as  all  the 
states  of  Europe  were  formed  into  a  republic  the  ensuing 
year,  uniting  in  a  single  confederated  state,  on  the  invita- 
tion of  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  Europe, 
these  two  great  nations  also  decreed  a  gradual  disarma- 
ment. Long  before  this  time,  India  had  been  lost  to  Eng- 
land, and  the  latter  had  become  a  reptiblic.  As  for  Russia, 
the  monarchical  form  of  government  still  existed.  It  was 
then  the  middle  of  the  twenty-fourth  century,  and  from 
that  epoch  the  narrow  sentiment  of  patriotism  was  re- 
placed by  the  general  one  of  humanity. 

Delivery  from  the  ball  and  chain  of  military  slavery, 
Europe  had  immediately  gotten  rid  of  the  bureaucracy 
which  had  also  exhausted  nations,  condemned  to  perish, 
as  it  were,  by  plethora.  But  for  this  a  radical  revolution 
was  necessary.  From  that  time  on,  Europe  had  advanced 
as  by  magic  in  a  marvellous  progress — social,  scientific, 
artistic  and  industrial.  Taxation,  diminished  by  nine- 
tenths,  served  only  for  the  maintenance  of  internal  order, 
the  security  of  life  and  property,  the  support  of  schools, 
and  the  encouragement  of  new  researches.  But  individual 


OMEGA.  295 

initiative  was  far  more  effective  than  the  old-time  official 
centralization  which  for  so  many  years  had  stifled  individ- 
ual effort,  and  bureaucracy  was  dead  and  buried. 

At  last  one  breathed  freely,  one  lived.  In  order  to  pay 
700,000  millions  every  century  to  citizens  withdrawn 
from  all  productive  work,  and  to  maintain  the  bureau- 
cracy, governments  had  been  obliged  to  increase  taxa- 
tion to  a  fearful  degree.  The  result  was  that  everything 
was  taxed  ;  the  air  one  breathes,  the  water  one  drinks, 
the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun,  bread,  wine  and  every  arti- 
cle of  food,  clothing,  houses,  the  streets  of  cities,  the  coun- 
try roads,  animals,  horses,  oxen,  dogs,  cats,  hens,  rabbits, 
birds  in  cages,  plants,  flowers,  musical  instruments,  pianos, 
organs,  violins,  zithers,  flutes,  trumpets,  trades  and  pro- 
fessions, the  married  and  the  unmarried,  children,  furni- 
ture— everything,  absolutely  everything;  and  this  taxa- 
tion had  grown  until  it  equalled  the  net  product  of  all 
human  labor,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  "daily 
bread."  Then,  all  work  had  ceased.  It  seemed  thence- 
forth impossible  to  live.  It  was  this  state  of  affairs  which 
led  to  the  great  social  revolution  of  the  international 
socialists,  of  which  mention  was  made  at  the  beginning 
of  this  book,  and  to  others  which  followed  it.  But  these 
upheavals  had  not  definitely  liberated  Europe  from  the 
barbarism  of  by-gone  days,  and  it  was  to  the  young 
women's  league  that  humanity  owes  its  deliverance. 

The  unification  of  nations,  of  ideas,  of  languages,  had 


O ME G  A  . 


MADE  PREFERABLY  BY   AIR-SHIPS. 


brought  about  also  that  of  weights  and  measures.  No 
nation  had  resisted  the  universal  adoption  of  the  metric 
system,  based  upon  the  dimensions  of  the  planet  itself.  A 
single  kind  of  money  was  in  circulation.  One  initial 
meridian  ruled  in  geography.  This  meridian  passed 
through  the  observatory  of  Greenwich,  and  at  its  antipode 
the  day  changed  its  name  at  noon. 

Nations  which  we  call  modern  had  vanished  like  those  of 
the  past.  France  had  disappeared  in  the  twenty-eighth  cen- 
tury, after  an  existence  of  about  two  thousand  years.  Ger- 
many disappeared  in  the  thirty-second  ;  Italy  in  the  twenty- 
ninth  ;  England  had  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  ocean, 


OMEGA.  197 

Meteorology  had  attained  the  precision  of  astronomy, 
and  about  the  thirtieth  century  the  weather  could  be  pre- 
dicted without  error. 

The  forests,  sacrificed  to  agriculture  and  the  manufac- 
ture of  paper,  had  entirely  disappeared. 

The  legal  rate  o.f  interest  had  fallen  to  one-half  of  one 
per  cent. 

Electricity  had  taken  the  place  of  steam.  Railroads 
and  pneumatic  tubes  were  still  in  use,  but  only  for  the 
transportation  of  freight.  Voyages  were  made  preferably 
by  dirigible  balloons,  aeroplanes  and  air-ships,  especially 
in  the  daytime. 

This  very  fact  of  aerial  navigation  would  have  done 
away  with  frontiers  if  the  progress  of  reason  had  not 
already  abolished  them.  Constant  intercourse  between  all 
parts  of  the  globe  had  brought  about  internationalism,  and 
the  absolutely  free  exchange  of  goods  and  ideas.  Custom- 
houses had  been  suppressed. 

The  telephonoscope  disseminated  immediately  the  most 
important  and  interesting  news.  A  comedy  played  at 
Chicago  or  Paris  could  be  heard  and  seen  in  every  city  of 
the  world. 

Astronomy  had  attained  its  end  :  the  knowledge  of  the 
life  of  other  worlds  and  the  establishment  of  communica- 
tion with  them.  All  philosophy,  all  religion,  was  founded 
upon  the  progress  of  astronomy. 

Marvellous  instruments  in  optics  and  physics  had  been 


ig8  OMEGA. 

invented.  A  new  substance  took  the  place  of  glass,  and 
had  yielded  the  most  unexpected  results  to  science.  New 
natural  forces  had  been  conquered. 

Social  progress  had  been  no  less  great  than  that  of  sci- 
ence. Machines  driven  by  electricity  had  gradually  taken 
the  place  of  manual  labor.  At  the  same  time  the  produc- 
tion of  food  had  become  entirely  revolutionized.  Chemi- 
cal synthesis  had  succeeded  in  producing  sugar,  albumen, 
the  amides  and  fats,  from  the  air,  water  and  vegetables,  and, 
by  skillfully  varying  the  proportions,  in  forming  the  most 
advantageous  combinations  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen 
and  nitrogen,  so  that  sumptuous  repasts  no  longer  consisted 
of  the  smoking  remains  of  slaughtered  animals — beef,  veal, 
lamb,  pork,  chicken,  fish  and  birds, — but  were  served 
amid  the  harmonies  of  music  in  rooms  adorned  with 
plants  ever  green  and  flowers  ever  in  bloom,  in  an  atmos- 
phere laden  with  perfumes.  Freed  from  the  vulgar  neces- 
sity of  masticating  meats,  the  mouth  absorbed  the  princi- 
ples necessary  for  the  repair  of  organic  tissues  in  exquisite 
drinks,  fruits,  cakes  and  pills. 

About  the  thirtieth  century,  especially,  the  nervous 
system  began  to  grow  more  delicate,  and  developed  in 
unexpected  ways.  Woman  was  still  somewhat  more  nar- 
row-minded than  man,  and  her  mental  operations  differed 
from  his  as  before  (her  exquisite  sensibility  responding  to 
sentimental  considerations  before  reason  could  act  in  the 
lower  cells),  and  her  head  had  remained  smaller,  her  fore- 


OMEGA.  799 

head  narrower  ;  but  the  former  was  so  elegantly  placed 
upon  a  neck  of  such  supple  grace,  and  rose  so  nobly  from 
the  shoulders  and  the  bust,  that  it  compelled  more  than 
ever  the  admiration  of  man,  not  only  as  a  whole,  but  also 
by  the  penetrating  sweetness  and  beauty  of  the  mouth  and 
the  light  curls  of  its  luxuriant  hair.  Although  compara- 
tively smaller  than  that  of  man,  the  head  of  woman  had 
nevertheless  increased  in  size  with  the  exercise  of  the 
intellectual  faculties ;  but  the  cerebral  circonvolutions  had 
experienced  the  most  change,  having  become  more  numer- 
ous and  more  pronounced  in  both  sexes.  In  short,  the 
head  had  grown,  the  body  had  diminished  in  size.  Giants 
were  no  longer  to  be  seen. 

Four  permanent  causes  had  modified  insensibly  the 
human  form  ;  the  development  of  the  intellectual  faculties 
and  of  the  brain,  the  decrease  in  manual  labor  and  bodily 
exercise,  the  transformation  of  food,  and  the  marriage  sys- 
tem. The  first  had  increased  the  size  of  the  cranium  as 
compared  with  the  rest  of  the  body  ;  the  second  had  de- 
creased the  strength  of  the  limbs ;  the  third  had  dimin- 
ished the  size  of  the  abdomen  and  made  the  teeth  finer 
and  smaller  ;  the  tendency  of  the  fourth  had  been  rather 
to  perpetuate  the  classic  forms  of  human  beauty  :  mascu- 
line beauty,  the  nobility  of  an  uplifted  countenance,  and 
the  graceful  outlines  of  womanhood.  About  the  two  hun- 
dredth century  of  our  era,  a  single  race  existed,  rather 
small  in  stature,  light  colored,  in  which  anthropologists 


^oo  OMEGA. 

might,  perhaps,  have  discovered  some  form  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Chinese  descent. 

Humanity  had  tended  towards  unity,  one  race,  one  lan- 
guage, one  general  government,  one  religion.  There  were 
no  more  state  religions ;  only  the  voice  of  an  enlightened 
conscience,  and  in  this  unity  former  anthropological  differ- 
ences had  disappeared. 

In  former  ages  poets  had  prophesied  that  in  the  mar- 
vellous progress  of  things  man  would  finally  acquire  wings, 
and  fly  through  the  air  by  his  muscular  force  alone ;  but 
they  had  not  studied  the  origin  of  anthropomorphic  struc- 
ture and  had  forgotten  that  for  a  man  to  have  at  the  same 
time  arms  and  wings,  he  must  belong  to  a  zoological  order 
of  sextupeds  which  does  not  exist  on  our  planet ;  for  man 
belongs  to  the  quadrupeds,  a  type  which  has  been  grad- 
ually modified.  But  though  he  had  not  acquired  new 
natural  organs,  he  had  acquired  artificial  ones,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  physical  transformation.  He  had  con- 
quered the  region  of  the  air  and  could  soar  in  the  sky  by 
light  apparatus,  whose  motor  power  was  electricity,  and 
the  atmosphere  had  become  his  domain  as  it  had  been  that 
of  the  birds.  It  is  very  probable  that  if  in  the  course  of 
ages  a  winged  race  could  have  acquired,  by  the  develop- 
ment of  its  faculties  of  observation,  a  brain  analogous  to 
that  of  even  the  most  primitive  man,  it  would  have  soon 
dominated  the  human  species  and  replaced  it  by  a  new 
one, — a  winged  race  of  the  same  zoological  type  as  the 


OMEGA  . 


201 


quadrupeds  and  bipeds.  But  the  force  of  gravity  is  an 
obstacle  to  any  such  organic  development  of  the  winged 
species,  and  humanity,  grown  more  perfect,  had  remained 
master  of  the  world. 

At  the  same  time,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  the  animal  popu- 
lation of  the  globe  had  completely  changed.  The  wild 
species,  lions,  tigers,  hyenas,  panthers,  elephants,  giraffes, 
kangaroos,  as  also  whales  and  seals,  had  become  extinct. 


CHAPTER    II. 

ABOUT  the  one  hundredth 
century  of  the  Christian  era  all 
resemblance  between  the  hu- 
man race  and  monkeys  had 
disappeared. 

The  nervous  sensibility  of 
man  had  become  intensified  to 
a  marvellous  degree.  The 
sense  of  sight,  of  hearing,  of 
smell,  of  touch,  and  of  taste, 
had  gradually  acquired  a  deli- 
cacy far  exceeding  that  of  their 
earlier  and  grosser  manifesta- 
tions. Through  the  study  of  the  electrical  properties 
of  living  organisms,  a  seventh  sense,  the  electric  sense, 
was  created  outright,  so  to  speak  ;  and  everyone  possessed 
the  power  of  attracting  and  repelling  both  living  and  inert 
matter,  to  a  degree  depending  upon  the  temperament  of 
the  individual.  But  by  far  the  most  important  of  all  the 
senses,  the  one  which  played  the  greatest  role  in  men's 
relation  to  each  other,  was  the  eighth,  the  psychic  sense, 
by  which  communication  at  a  distance  became  possible. 


i 


OMEGA.  203 

A  glimpse  has  been  had  of  two  other  senses  also,  but 
their  development  had  been  arrested  from  the  very  outset. 
The  first  had  to  do  with  the  visibility  of  the  ultra  violet 
rays,  so  sensitive  to  chemical  tests,  but  wholly  invisible 
to  the  human  eye.  Experiments  made  in  this  direction  has 
resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  no  new  power,  and  had  con- 
siderably impaired  those  previously  enjoyed.  The  second 
was  the  sense  of  orientation ;  but  every  effort  made  to 
develop  it  had  proved  a  failure,  notwithstanding  the 
attempt  to  make  use  of  the  results  of  researches  in  terres- 
trial magnetism. 

For  some  time  past,  the  offspring  of  the  once  titled  and 
aristocratic  classes  of  society  had  formed  a  sickly  and 
feeble  race,  and  the  governing  body  was  recruited  from 
among  the  more  virile  members  of  the  lower  class,  who, 
however,  were  in  their  turn  soon  enervated  by  a  worldly 
life.  Subsequently,  marriages  were  regulated  on  estab- 
lished principles  of  selection  and  heredity. 

The  development  of  man's  intellectual  faculties,  and  the 
cultivation  of  psychical  science,  had  wrought  great  changes 
in  humanity.  Latent  faculties  of  the  soul  had  been  dis- 
covered, faculties  which  had  remained  dormant  for  per- 
haps a  million  years,  during  the  earlier  reign  of  the  grosser 
instincts,  and,  in  proportion  as  food  based  upon  chemical 
principles  was  substituted  for  the  coarse  nourishment 
which  had  prevailed  for  so  long  a  time,  these  faculties 
came  to  light  and  underwent  a  brilliant  development.  As 


204 


OMEGA  . 


a  mental  operation,  thought  became  a  different  thing  from 
what  it  now  is.  Mind  acted  readily  upon  mind  at  a  dis- 
tance, by  virtue  of  a  transcendental  magnetism,  of  which 
even  children  knew  how  to  avail  themselves. 

The  first  interastral  com- 
munication was  with  the 
planet  Mars,  and  the  sec- 
ond with  Venus,  the  latter 
being  maintained  to  the 
end  of  the  world ;  the 


EVEN    CHILDREN    KNEW    HOW    TO    AVAIL    THEMSELVES  OF    IT.' 


OMEGA.  205 

former  was  interrupted  by  the  death  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Mars  ;  whereas  intercourse  with  Jupiter  was  only  just 
beginning  as  the  human  race  neared  its  own  end.  A 
rigid  application  of  the  principles  of  selection  in  the 
formation  of  marriages  had  resulted  in  a  really  new  race, 
resembling  ours  in  organic  form,  but  possessing  wholly 
different  intellectual  powers.  For  the  once  barbarous  and 
often  blind  methods  of  medicine,  and  even  of  surgery,  had 
been  substituted  by  those  derived  from  a  knowledge  of 
hypnotic,  magnetic  and  psychic  forces,  and  telepathy  had 
become  a  great  and  fruitful  science. 

Simultaneously  with  man  the  planet  also  had  been  trans- 
formed. Industry  had  produced  mighty  but  ephemeral 
results.  In  the  twenty-fifth  century,  whose  events  we 
have  just  described,  Paris  had  been  for  a  long  time  a  sea- 
port, and  electric  ships  from  the  Atlantic,  and  from  the 
Pacific  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  arrived  at  the  quays  of 
the  abbey  of  Saint  Denis,  beyond  which  the  great  capital 
extended  far  to  the  north.  The  passage  from  the  abbey 
of  Saint  Denis  to  the  port  of  London  was  made  in  a  few 
hours,  and  many  travellers  availed  themselves  of  this 
route,  in  preference  to  the  regular  air  route,  the  tunnel, 
and  the  viaduct  over  the  channel.  Outside  of  Paris  the 
same  activity  reigned  ;  for,  in  the  twenty-fifth  century 
also,  the  canal  uniting  the  Mediterranean  with  the  Atlan- 
tic had  been  completed,  and  the  long  detour  by  way  of 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  had  been  abandoned  ;  and  on  the 


206  OMEGA. 

other  hand  a  metallic  tube,  for  carriages  driven  by  com- 
pressed air,  united  the  Iberian  republic,  formerly  Spain 
and  Portugal,  with  western  Algeria,  formerly  Morocco. 
Paris  and  Chicago  then  had  nine  million  inhabitants,  Lon- 
don, ten  ;  New  York,  twelve.  Paris,  continuing  its  growth 
toward  the  west  from  century  to  century,  now  extended 
from  the  confluence  of  the  Marne  beyond  St.  Germain. 
All  great  cities  had  grown  at  the  expense  of  the  country. 
Agricultural  products  were  manufactured  by  electricity  ; 
hydrogen  was  extracted  from  sea-water ;  the  energy  of 
waterfalls  and  tides  were  utilized  for  lighting  purposes  at 
a  distance ;  the  solar  rays,  stored  in  summer,  were  distrib- 
uted in  winter,  and  the  seasons  had  almost  disappeared, 
especially  since  the  introduction  of  heat  wells,  which 
brought  to  the  surface  of  the  soil  the  seemingly  inexhaust- 
ible heat  of  the  earth's  interior. 

But  what  is  the  twenty-fifth  century  in  comparison  with 
the  thirtieth,  the  fortieth,  the  hundredth  ! 

Everyone  knows  the  legend  of  the  Arab  of  Kazwani, 
as  related  by  a  traveller  of  the  thirteenth  century,  who  at 
that  time,  moreover,  had  no  idea  of  the  duration  of  the 
epochs  of  nature.  "  Passing  one  day,"  he  said,  "  by  a  very 
ancient  and  very  populous  city,  I  asked  one  of  its  inhabi- 
tants how  long  a  time  it  had  been  founded.  (  Truly,'  he 
replied,  4  it  is  a  powerful  city,  but  we  do  not  know  how 
long  it  has  existed,  and  our  ancestors  are  as  ignorant  upon 
this  subject  as  we.' 


OMEGA. 


207 


THE  CHINESE  CAPITOL. 


"  Five  centuries  later  I  passed  by  the  same  spot,  and 
could  perceive  no  trace  of  the  city.  I  asked  a  peasant 
who  was  gathering  herbs  on  its  former  site,  how  long  it  had 
been  destroyed.  *  Of  a  truth,'  he  replied,  *  that  is  a  strange 
question.  This  field  has  always  been  what  it  now  is.' 
*  But  was  there  not  formerly  a  splendid  city  here  ? '  I 
asked.  4  Never,'  he  answered,  '  at  least  so  far  as  we  can 
judge  from  what  we  have  seen,  and  our  fathers  have  never 
told  us  of  any  such  thing.' 

"  On  my  return  five  hundred  years  later  to  the  same 
place  I  found  it  occupied  by  the  sea  ;  on  the  shore  stood  a 
group  of  fishermen,  of  whom  I  asked  at  what  period  the 
land  had  been  covered  by  the  ocean.  ( Is  that  question 
worthy  of  a  man  like  you  ?  '  they  replied  ;  '  this  spot  has 
always  been  such  as  you  see  it  today.' 


208  OMEGA. 

"  At  the  end  of  five  hundred  years  I  returned  again,  and 
the  sea  had  disappeared.  I  inquired  of  a  solitary  man 
whom  I  encountered,  when  this  change  had  taken  place  ; 
and  he  gave  me  the  same  reply. 

"  Finally,  after  an  equal  lapse  of  time,  I  returned  once 
more,  to  find  a  flourishing  city,  more  populous  and  richer 
in  monuments  than  that  which  I  had  at  first  visited  ;  and 
when  I  sought  information  as  to  its  origin,  its  inhabitants 
replied  :  '  The  date  of  its  foundation  is  lost  in  antiquity. 
We  do  not  know  how  long  it  has  existed,  and  our  fathers 
knew  no  more  of  this  than  we  do.'  " 

How  this  fable  illustrates  the  brevity  of  human  mem- 
ory and  the.  narrowness  of  our  horizons  in  time  as  well 
as  in  space  !  We  think  that  the  earth  has  always  been 
what  it  now  is  ;  we  conceive  with  difficulty  of  the  secu- 
lar changes  through  which  it  has  passed ;  the  vastness 
of  these  periods  overwhelms  us,  as  in  astronomy  we  are 
overwhelmed  by  the  vast  distances  of  space. 

The  time  had  come  when  Paris  had  ceased  to  be  the 
capital  of  the  world. 

After  the  fusion  of  the  United  States  of  Europe  into  a 
single  confederation,  the  Russian  republic  from  St.  Peters- 
burg to  Constantinople  had  formed  a  sort  of  barrier  against 
the  invasion  of  the  Chinese,  who  had  already  established 
populous  cities  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  sea.  The 
nations  of  the  past  having  disappeared  before  the  march  of 
progress,  and  the  nationalities  of  France,  England,  Ger- 


OMEGA.  209 

many,  Italy  and  Spain  having  for  the  same  reason  passed 
away,  communication  between  the  east  and  west,  between 
Europe  and  America,  had  become  more  and  more  easy  ; 
and  the  sea  being  no  longer  an  obstacle  to  the  march  of 
humanity,  free  now  as  the  sun,  the  new  territory  of  the 
vast  continent  of  America  had  been  preferred  by  industrial 
enterprise  to  the  exhausted  lands  of  western  Europe,  and 
already  in  the  twenty-fifth  century  the  center  of  Civiliza- 
tion was  located  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  in  a  new 
Athens  of  nine  million  inhabitants,  rivalling  Paris.  There- 
after the  elegant  French  capital  had  followed  the  example 
of  its  predecessors,  Rome,  Athens,  Memphis,  Thebes,  Nine- 
veh and  Babylon.  The  wealth,  the  resources  of  every 
kind,  the  great  attractions,  were  elsewhere. 

In  Spain,  Italy  and  France,  gradually  abandoned  by 
their  inhabitants,  solitude  spread  slowly  over  the  ruins  of 
former  cities.  Lisbon  had  disappeared,  destroyed  by  the 
sea  ;  Madrid,  Rome,  Naples  and  Florence  were  in  ruins. 
A  little  later,  Paris,  Lyons  and  Marseilles  were  overtaken 
by  the  same  fate. 

Human  types  and  languages  had  undergone  such 
transformations  that  it  would  have  been  impossible 
for  an  ethnologist  or  a  linguist  to  discover  anything 
belonging  to  the  past.  For  a  long  time  neither  Spanish, 
Portuguese,  Italian,  French,  English  nor  German  had 
been  spoken.  Europe  had  migrated  beyond  the  Atlantic, 

and  Asia  had  invaded  Europe.     The  Chinese  to  the  num- 

14 


210  OMEGA. 

her  of  a  thousand  million  had  spread  over  western  Europe. 
Mingling  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  they  formed  in  some 
measure  a  new  one.  Their  principal  capital  stretched  like 
an  endless  street  along  each  side  of  the  canal  from  Bor- 
deaux to  Toulouse  and  Narbonne. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  foundation  of  Lutetia 
on  an  island  in  the  Seine,  which  had  raised  this  city 
of  the*  Parisians  to  the  zenith  of  its  power  in  the 
twenty -fourth  century,  were  no  longer  operative,  and 
Paris  had  disappeared  simultaneously  with  the  causes 
to  which  it  owed  its  origin  and  splendor.  Commerce 
had  taken  possession  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  great 
oceanic  highways,  and  the  Iberian  canal  had  become 
the  emporium  of  the  world. 

The  littoral  of  the  south  and  west  of  ancient  France 
had  been  protected  by  dikes  against  the  invasion  of  the 
sea,  but,  owing  to  the  increase  of  population  in  the  south 
and  southwest,  the  north  and  northwest  had  been  neg- 
lected, and  the  slow  and  continual  subsidence  of  this 
region,  observed  ever  since  the  time  of  Caesar,  had  reduced 
its  level  below  that  of  the  sea  ;  and  as  the  channel  was 
ever  widening,  and  the  cliffs  between  Cape  Helder  and 
Havre  were  being  worn  away  by  the  action  of  the  sea, 
the  Dutch  dikes  had  been  abandoned  to  the  ocean,  which 
had  invaded  the  Netherlands,  Belgium,  and  northern 
France,  Amsterdam,  Utrecht,  Rotterdam,  Antwerp,  Ver- 
sailles, lyille,  Amiens  and  Rouen  had  sunk  below  the 


OMEGA  . 


THE  RUINS  OF   PARIS. 


212  OMEGA. 

water,    and   ships    floated    above    their    sea-covered  ruins. 

Paris  itself,  finally  abandoned  in  the  sixtieth  century, 
when  the  sea  had  surrounded  it  as  it  now  does  Havre,  was, 
in  the  eighty-fifth  century,  covered  with  water  to  the 
height  of  the  towers  of  Notre  Dame,  and  all  that  memor- 
able plain,  where  were  wrought  out,  during  so  many 
years,  the  most  brilliant  of  the  world's  civilizations,  was 
swept  by  angry  waves.* 

As  in  the  case  of  languages,  ideas,  customs  and  laws,  so, 
also,  the  manner  of  reckoning  time  had  changed.  It  was 
still  reckoned  by  years  and  centuries,  but  the  Christian  era 
had  been  discarded,  as  also  the  holy  days  of  the  calendar 
and  the  eras  of  the  Mussulman,  Jewish,  Chinese  and 
African  chronologies.  There  was  now  a  single  calendar 
for  the  entire  race,  composed  of  twelve  months,  divided 
into  four  equal  trimesters  of  three  months  of  thirty-one, 
thirty,  and  thirty  days,  each  trimester  containing  exactly 
thirteen  weeks.  New  Year's  Day  was  a  fete  day,  and  was 
not  reckoned  in  with  the  year  ;  every  bisextile  year  there 


*  In  the  nineteenth  century,  researches  in  natural  history  had  revealed  the  fact 
that  secular  vertical  oscillations,  vary  with  the  locality,  were  taking  place  in  the  earth's 
crust,  and  had  proved  that,  from  prehistoric  times,  the  soil  of  western  and  southern 
France  had  been  slowly  sinking  and  the  sea  slowly  gaining  upon  the  land.  One  after 
another,  the  islands  of  Jersey,  of  Minquiers,  of  Chaussey,  of  F,crehou,  of  Cezembre,  of 
Mont-Saint-Michel,  had  been  detached  from  the  cpntinent  by  the  sea  ;  the  cities  of  Is, 
Helion,  Tommeu,  Portzmeur,  Harbour,  Saint  Louis,  Monny,  Bourgneuf,  La  Feillette, 
Paluel  and  Nazado  had  been  buried  beneath  its  waves,  and  the  Armorican  peninsula 
had  slowly  retreated  before  the  advancing  waters.  The  hour  of  this  invasion  by  the  sea 
had  struck,  from  century  to  century,  also  for  Herbavilla ;  to  the  west  of  Nantes  ;  for 
Saint-Denis-Chef-de-Caux,  to  the  north  of  Havre  ;  for  Saint-Etienne-de-Paluel  and  lor 
Gardoine,  to  the  north  of  Dol ;  for  Tolente,  to  the  west  of  Brest ;  more  than  eighty 
habitable  cities  of  Holland  had  been  submerged  in  the  eleventh  century,  etc  etc.  In 
other  regions  the  reverse  had  taken  place,  and  the  sea  had  retired  ;  but  to  the  north 
and  west  of  Paris  this  double  action  of  the  subsidence  of  the  land  and  the  wearing  away 
of  the  shores  had,  in  less  than  seven  thousand  years,  made  Paris  accessible  to  ships  of 
the  greatest  tonnage. 


OMEGA.  213 

were  two.  The  week  had  been  retained.  Every  year 
commenced  on  the  same  day — Monday  ;  and  the  same 
dates  always  corresponded  to  the  same  days  of  the  week. 
The  year  began  with  the  vernal  equinox  all  over  the 
world.  The  era,  a  purely  astronomical  division  of  time, 
began  with  the  coincidence  of  the  December  solstice  with 
perihelion,  and  was  renewed  every  25,765  years.  This 
rational  method  had  succeeded  the  fantastic  divisions  of 
time  formerly  in  use. 

The  geographical  features  of  France,  of  Europe  and  of 
the  entire  world  had  become  modified,  from  century  to 
century.  Seas  had  replaced  continents,  and  new  deposits 
at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  covered  the  vanished  ages, 
forming  new  geological  strata.  Elsewhere,  continents  had 
taken  the  place  of  seas.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone, 
for  example,  where  the  dry  land  had  already  encroached 
upon  the  sea  from  Aries  to  the  littoral,  the  continent 
gained  to  the  south  ;  in  Italy,  the  deposits  of  the  Po  had 
continued  to  gain  upon  the  Adriatic,  as  those  of  the  Nile, 
the  Tiber,  and  other  rivers  of  later  origin,  had  gained  upon 
the  Mediterranean  ;  and  in  other  places  the  dunes  had  in- 
creased, by  various  amounts,  the  domain  of  the  dry  land. 
The  contours  of  seas  and  continents  had  so  changed  that 
it  would  have  been  absolutely  impossible  to  make  out  the 
ancient  geographical  maps  of  history. 

The  historian  of  nature  does  not  deal  with  periods  of 
five  centuries,  like  the  Arab  of  the  thirteenth  century  men- 


214  OMEGA. 

tioned  in  the  legend  related  a  moment  ago.  Ten  times  this 
period  would  scarcely  suffice  to  modify,  sensibly,  the  con- 
figuration of  the  land,  for  five  thousand  years  are  but  a 
ripple  on  the  ocean  of  time.  It  is  by  tens  of  thousands  of 
years  that  one  must  reckon  if  one  would  see  continents 
sink -below  the  level  of  seas,  and  new  territories  emerging 
into  the  sunlight,  as  the  result  of  the  secular  changes  in 
the  level  of  the  earth's  crust,  whose  thickness  and  density 
varies  from  place  to  place,  and  whose  weight,  resting  upon 
the  still  plastic  and  mobile  interior,  causes  vast  areas  to 
oscillate.  A  slight  disturbance  of  the  equilibrium,  an  in- 
significant dip  of  the  scales,  a  change  of  less  than  a  hun- 
dred meters,  often,  in  the  length  of  the  earth's  diameter 
of  twelve  thousand  kilometers,  is  sufficient  to  transform 
the  surface  of  the  world. 

And  if  we  examine  the  ensemble  of  the  history  of  the 
earth,  by  periods  of  one  hundred  thousand  years,  for  exam- 
ple, we  see,  that  in  ten  of  these  great  epochs,  that  is,  in  a 
million  years,  the  surface  of  the  globe  has  been  many 
times  transformed. 

If  we  advance  into  the  future  a  period  of  one  or  two 
million  years,  we  witness  a  vast  flux  and  reflux  of  life  and 
things.  How  many  times  in  this  period  of  ten  or  twenty 
thousand  centuries,  how  many  times  have  the  waves  of  the 
sea  covered  the  former  dwelling-places  of  man !  How 
many  times  the  earth  has  emerged  anew,  fresh  and  regen- 
erated, from  the  abysses  of  the  ocean  !  In  primitive  times, 


OMEGA.  215 

when  the  still  warm  and  liquid  planet  was  covered  only 
by  a  thin  shell,  cooling  on  the  surface  of  the  burning 
ocean  within,  these  changes  took  place  brusquely,  by  sud- 
den breaking  down  of  natural  barriers,  earthquakes,  vol- 
canic eruptions,  and  the  uprising  of  mountain  ranges. 
Later,  as  this  superficial  crust  grew  thicker  and  became 
consolidated,  these  transformations  were  more  gradual  ; 
the  slow  contraction  of  the  earth  had  led  to  the  formation 
of  hollow  spaces  within  the  solid  envelope,  to  the  falling 
in  of  portions  of  this  envelope  upon  the  liquid  nucleus, 
and  finally  to  oscillating  movements  which  had  changed 
the  profile  of  the  continents.  Later  still,  insensible  modi- 
fications had  been  produced  by  external  agents  ;  on  the 
one  hand  the  rivers,  constantly  carrying  to  their  mouths 
the  debris  of  the  mountains,  had  filled  up  the  depths  of 
the  sea  and  slowly  increased  the  area  of  the  dry  land,  mak- 
ing in  time  inland  cities  of  ancient  seaports ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  the  action  of  the  waves  and  of  storms,  con- 
stantly eating  away  the  shores,  had  increased  the  area  of 
the  ocean  at  the  expense  of  the  dry  land.  Ceaselessly  the 
geographical  configuration  of  the  shore  had  changed.  For 
the  historian  our  planet  had  become  another  world.  Every- 
thing had  changed  :  continents,  seas,  shores,  races,  lan- 
guages, customs,  body  and  mind,  sentiments,  ideas — every- 
thing. France  beneath  the  waves,  the  bottom  of  the  At- 
lantic in  the  light  of  the  sun,  a  portion  of  the  United 
States  gone,  a  continent  in  the  place  of  Oceanica,  China 


2l6 


OMEGA. 


submerged  ;  death  where  was  life,  and  life  where  was 
death ;  and  everywhere  sunk  into  eternal  oblivion  all 
which  had  once  constituted  the  glory  and  greatness  of 
nations.  If  today  one  of  us  should  emigrate  to  Mars,  he 
would  find  himself  more  at  home  than  if,  after  the  lapse 
of  these  future  ages,  he  should  return  to  the  earth. 


CHAPTER   III. 

WHILE  these  great  changes  in  the  planets  were  taking 
place,  humanity  had  continued  to  advance  ;  for  progress  is 
the  supreme  law.  Terrestrial  life,  which  began  with  the 
rudimentary  protozoans,  without  mouths,  blind,  deaf,  mute 
and  almost  wholly  destitute  of  sensation,  had  acquired 
successively  the  marvellous  organs  of  sense,  and  had  finally 
reached  its  climax  in  man,  who,  having  also  grown  more 
perfect  with  the  lapse  of  centuries,  had  risen  from  his 
primitive  savage  condition  as  the  slave  of  nature  to  the 
position  of  a  sovereign  who  ruled  the  world  by  mind,  and 
who  had  made  it  a  paradise  of  happiness,  of  pure  contem- 
plation, of  knowledge  and  of  pleasure. 

Men  had  attained  that  degree  of  intelligence  which 
enabled  them  to  live  wisely  and  tranquilly.  After  a  gen- 
eral disarmament  had  been  brought  about,  so  rapid  an  in- 
crease in  public  riches  and  so  great  an  amelioration  in  the 
well-being  of  every  citizen  was  observed,  that  the  efforts 
of  intelligence  and  labor,  no  longer  wasted  by  this  intel- 
lectual suicide,  had  been  directed  to  the  conquest  of  new 

forces  of  nature  and  the  constant  improvement  of  civili- 

217 


2i8  OMEGA. 

zation.     The    human  body   had  become   insensibly  trans- 
formed, or  more  exactly,  transfigured. 

Nearly  all  men  were  intelligent.  They  remembered 
with  a  smile  the  childish  ambitions  of  their  ancestors 
whose  aspiration  was  to  be  someone  rather  than  someMz«£-, 
and  who  had  struggled  so  feverishly  for  outward  show. 
They  had  learned  that  happiness  resides  in  the  soul,  that 
contentment  is  found  only  in  study,  that  love  is  the  sun  of 
the  heart,  that  life  is  short  and  ought  not  to  be  lived  super- 
ficially ;  and  thus  all  were  happy  in  the  possession  of 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  careless  of  those  things  which 
one  cannot  carry  away. 

Woman  had  acquired  a  perfect  beauty.  Her  form  had 
lost  the  fullness  of  the  Greek  model  and  had  become  more 
slender  ;  her  skin  was  of  a  translucent  whiteness  ;  her  eyes 
were  illuminated  by  the  light  of  dreams ;  her  long  and 
silky  hair,  in  whose  deep  chestnut  were  blended  all  the 
ruddy  tints  of  the  setting  sun,  fell  in  waves  of  rippling 
light ;  the  heavy  animal  jaw  had  become  idealized,  the 
mouth  had  grown  smaller,  and  in  the  presence  of  its  sweet 
smile,  at  the  sight  of  its  dazzling  pearls  between  the  soft 
rose  of  the  lips,  one  could  not  understand  how  lovers  could 
have  pressed  such  fervent  kisses  upon  the  lips  of  women 
of  earlier  times,  specimens  of  whose  teeth,  resembling 
those  of  animals,  had  been  preserved  in  the  museums  of 
ethnography.  It  really  seemed  as  if  a  new  race  had  come 
into  existence,  infinitely  superior  to  that  to  which  Aris- 


OMEGA.  219 

totle,  Kepler,  Victor  Hugo,  Phryne,  or  Diana  of  Poictiers ' 
had  belonged. 

Thanks  to  the  progress  in  physiology ,  hygiene,  and  anti- 
septic science,  as  well  as  to  the  general  well-being  and 
intelligence  of  the  race  the  duration  of  human  life  had 
been  greatly  prolonged,  and  it  was  not  unusual  to  see  per- 
sons who  had  attained  the  age  of  150  years.  Death  had 
not  been  conquered,  but  the  secret  of  living  without  grow- 
ing old  had  been  found,  and  the  characteristics  of  youth 
were  retained  beyond  the  age  of  one  hundred. 

But  one  fatherland  existed  on  the  planet,  which,  like  a 
chorus  heard  above  the  chords  of  some  vast  harmony, 
inarched  onward  to  its  high  destiny,  shining  in  the  splen- 
dor of  intellectual  supremacy. 

The  internal  heat  of  the  globe,  the  light  and  warmth  of 
the  sun,  terrestrial  magnetism,  atmospheric  electricity, 
inter-planetary  attraction,  the  psychic  forces  of  the  human 
soul,  the  unknown  forces  which  preside  over  destinies,— 
all  these  science  had  conquered  and  controlled  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind.  The  only  limits  to  its  conquests  were 
the  limitations  of  the  human  faculties  themselves,  which, 
indeed,  are  feeble,  especially  when  we  compare  them  with 
those  of  certain  extra-terrestrial  beings. 

All  the  results  of  this  vast  progress,  so  slowly  and  grad- 
ually acquired  by  the  toil  of  centuries,  must,  in  obedience 
to  a  law,  mysterious  and  inconceivable  for  the  petty  race 
of  man,  reach  at  last  their  apogee,  when  further  advance 


220 


OMEGA  . 


becomes  impossible.  The  geometric  curve  which  repre- 
sents this  progress  of  the  race,  falls  as  it  rises  :  starting 
from  zero,  from  the  primitive  nebulous  cosmos,  ascending 
through  the  ages  of  planetary  and  human  history  to  its 
lofty  summit,  to  descend  thereafter  into  a  night  that 
knows  no  morrow. 

Yes  !  all  this  progress,  all  this  knowledge,  all  this  hap- 
piness and  glory,  must  one  day  be  swallowed  up  in  obliv- 
ion, and  the  voice  of  history  itself  be  forever  silenced. 

Life  had  a  be-   _____^_     ginning:  it 

must  have  an  end.    The  sun 

of    human    |  hopes  had  ris- 


en, had  ascend- 
to  its  meridi- 
to  set  and  to 
endless  night, 
then  all  this 
struggling,  all 
quests,  all 
if  light  and 
to  an  end? 
apostles,  in 
have  poured 
on  the  earth, 
in  its  turn  to 
Everything 
decay,  and 


THE   VILLAGE   CEMETERY. 


ed  victoriously 
an,  it  was  now 
disappear  in 
To  what  end 
glory,  all  this 
these  coii- 
these  vanities, 
life  must  come 
Martyrs  and 
every  cause, 
out  blood  up- 
destined  also 
perish. 

is    doomed    to 
death  must  re- 


OMEG'A.  221 

main  the  final  sovereign  of  the  world.  Have  you  ever 
thought,  in  viewing  a  village  cemetery,  how  small  it  is,  to 
contain  the  generations  buried  there  from  time  immemor- 
able  ?  Man  existed  before  the  last  glacial  epoch,  which 
dates  back  200,000  years;  and  the  age  of  man  extends  over 
a  period  of  more  than  250,000  years.  Written  history 
dates  from  yesterday.  Cut  and  polished  flints  have  been 
found  at  Paris,  proving  the  presence  of  man  on  the  banks 
of  the  Seine  long  before  the  first  historic  record  of  the 
Gauls.  The  Parisians  of  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury walk  upon  ground  consecrated  by  more  than  ten 
thousand  years  of  ancestry.  What  remains  of  all  who 
have  swarmed  in  this  forum  of  the  world  ?  What  is  left 
of  the  Romans,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Asiatics,  whose  em- 
pires lasted  for  centuries  ?  What  remains  of  the  millions 
who  have  existed  ?  Not  even  a  handful  of  ashes. 

A  human  being  dies  every  second,  or  about  86,000  a 
day,  and  an  equal  number,  or  to  speak  more  exactly,  a 
little  more  than  86,000  are  born  daily.  This  figure,  true 
for  the  nineteenth  century,  applies  to  a  long  period,  if  we 
increase  it  proportionately  to  the  time.  The  population 
of  the  globe  has  increased  from  epoch  to  epoch.  In  the 
time  of  Alexander  there  were  perhaps  a  thousand  million 
living  beings  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  At  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  century  fifteen  hundred  million  ;  in  the 
twenty-second  century  two  thousand  million ;  in  the 
twenty-ninth  three  thousand  million  ;  at  its  maximum 


222  OMEGA. 

the  population  of  the  globe  had  reached  one  hundred 
thousand  million.  Then  it  had  begun  to  decrease. 

Of  the  innumerable  human  bodies  which  have  lived,  not 
one  remains.  All  have  been  resolved  into  their  elements, 
which  have  again  formed  new  individuals. 

All  that  fills  the  passing  day — labor,  pleasure,  grief  and 
happiness — vanishes  with  it  into  oblivion.  Time  flies,  and 
the  past  exists  no  longer  ;  what  has  been,  has  disappeared 
in  the  gulf  of  eternity.  The  visible  world  is  vanishing 
every  instant.  Only  the  invisible  is  real  and  enduring. 

During  the  ten  million  years  of  history,  the  human 
race,  surviving  generation  after  generation,  as  if  it  were  a 
real  thing,  had  been  greatly  modified  from  both  a  physical 
and  moral  point  of  view.  It  had  always  remained  master 
of  the  world,  and  no  new  race  had  aspired  to  its  sover- 
eignty ;  for  races  do  not  come  down  from  heaven  or  rise 
from  hell ;  no  Minerva  is  born  full-armed,  no  Venus  awakes 
full-grown  in  a  shell  of  pearl  on  the  seashore  ;  everything 
grows,  and  the  human  race,  with  its  long  line  of  ancestry, 
was  from  the  very  beginning  the  natural  result  of  the  vital 
evolution  of  the  planet.  Under  the  law  of  progress,  it  had 
emerged  from  the  limbo  of  animalism,  and  by  the  contin- 
ued action  of  this  same  law  of  progress  it  had  become  grad- 
ually perfected,  modified  and  refined. 

But  the  time  had  come  when  the  conditions  of  terrestrial 
life  began  to  fail ;  when  humanity,  instead  of  advancing, 
was  itself  to  enter  upon  its  downward  path. 


OMEGA.  223 

The  internal  heat  of  the  globe,  still  considerable  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  although  it  had  ceased  to  have  any 
effect  upon  surface  temperature,  which  was  maintained 
solely  by  the  sun,  had  slowly  diminished,  and  the  earth 
had,  at  last,  become  entirely  cold.  This  had  not  directly 
influenced  the  physical  conditions  of  terrestrial  life,  which 
continued  to  depend  upon  the  atmosphere  and  solar  heat. 
The  cooling  of  the  earth  cannot  bring  about  the  end  of 
the  world. 

Imperceptibly,  from  century  to  century,  the  earth's  sur- 
face had  become  levelled.  The  action  of  the  rain,  snow, 
frost  and  solar  heat  upon  the  mountains,  the  waters  of  tor- 
rents, rivulets  and  rivers,  had  slowly  carried  to  the  sea  the 
debris  of  every  continental  elevation.  The  bottom  of  the 
sea  had  risen,  and  in  nine  million  years  the  mountains  had 
almost  entirely  disappeared.  Meanwhile,  the  planet  had 
grown  old  faster  than  the  sun  ;  the  conditions  favorable  to 
life  had  disappeared  more  rapidly  than  the  solar  light  and 
heat. 

This  conception  of  the  planet's  future  conforms  to  our 
present  knowledge  of  the  universe.  Doubtless,  our  logic 
is  radically  incomplete,  puerile  even,  in  comparison  with 
the  real  and  eternal  Truth,  and  might  be  justly  compared 
with  that  of  two  ants  talking  together  about  the  history  of 
France.  But,  confessing  the  modesty  which  befits  the 
finite  in  presence  of  the  infinite,  and  acknowledging  our 
nothingness  as  compared  with  the  universe,  we  cannot 


224  OMEGA. 

avoid  the  necessity  of  appearing  logical  to  ourselves  ;  we 
cannot  assume  that  the  abdication  of  reason  is  a  better 
proof  of  wisdom  than  the  use  of  it.  We  believe  that  an 
intelligent  order  presides  over  the  universe  and  controls 
the  destiny  of  worlds  and  their  inhabitants  ;  that  the 
larger  members  of  the  solar  system  must  last  longer  than 
the  lesser  ones,  and,  consequently,  that  the  life  of  each 
planet  is  not  equally  dependent  upon  the  sun,  and  cannot, 
therefore,  continue  indefinitely,  any  more  than  the  sun 
itself.  Moreover,  direct  observation  confirms  this  general 
conception  of  the  universe.  The  earth,  an  extinct  sun, 
has  cooled  more  rapidly  than  the  sun.  Jupiter,  so  im- 
mense, is  still  in  its  youth.  The  moon,  smaller  than  Mars, 
has  reached  the  more  advanced  stages  of  astral  life,  per- 
haps even  has  reached  its  end.  Mars,  smaller  than  the 
earth,  is  more  advanced  than  the  earth  and  less  so  than 
the  moon.  Our  planet,  in  its  turn,  must  die  before  Jupi- 
ter, and  this,  also,  must  take  place  before  the  sun  becomes 
extinct. 

Consider,  in  fact,  the  relative  sizes  of  the  earth  and  the 
other  planets.  The  diameter  of  Jupiter  is  eleven  times 
that  of  the  earth,  and  the  diameter  of  the  sun  about  ten 
times  that  of  Jupiter.  The  diameter  of  Saturn  is  nine 
times  that  of  the  earth.  It  seems  to  us,  therefore,  natural 
to  believe  that  Jupiter  and  Saturn  will  endure  longer 
than  our  planet,  Venus,  Mars  or  Mercury,  those  pigmies 
of  the  system  ! 


OMEGA.  225 

Events  justified  these  deductions  of  science.  Dangers 
lay  in  wait  for  us  in  the  immensity  of  space  ;  a  thousand 
accidents  might  have  befallen  us,  in  the  form  of  comets, 
extinct  or  flaming  suns,  nebulae,  etc.  But  the  planet  did 
not  perish  by  an  accident.  Old  age  awaited  the  earth,  as 
it  waits  for  all  other  things,  and  it  grew  old  faster  than  the 
sun.  It  lost  the  conditions  necessary  for  life  more  rapidly 
than  the  central  luminary  lost  its  heat  and  its  light. 

During  the  long  periods  of  its  vital  splendor,  when, 
leading  the  chorus  of  the  worlds,  it  bore  on  its  surface  an 
intelligent  race,  victors  over  the  blind  forces  of  nature,  a 
protecting  atmosphere,  beneath  which  went  on  all  the 
play  of  life  and  happiness,  guarded  its  flourishing  empires. 
An  essential  element  of  nature,  water,  regulated  terrestrial 
life ;  from  the  very  beginning  this  element  had  entered 
into  the  composition  of  every  substance,  vegetable,  animal 
and  human.  It  formed  the  active  principle  of  atmospheric 
circulation  ;  it  was  the  chief  agent  in  the  changes  of  cli- 
mate and  seasons ;  it  was  the  sovereign  of  the  terrestrial 
state. 

From  century  to  century  the  quantity  of  water  in  the 
sea,  the  rivers  and  the  atmosphere  diminished.  A  portion 
of  the  rain  water  was  absorbed  by  the  earth,  and  did  not 
return  to  the  sea ;  for,  instead  of  flowing  into  the  sea  over 
impermeable  strata,  and  so  forming  either  springs  or  subter- 
ranean and  submarine  watercourses,  it  had  filtered  deeper 

within    the  surface,   insensibly    filling    every    void,    every 

15 


226  OMEGA. 

fissure,  and  saturating  the  rocks  to  a  great  depth.  So 
long  as  the  internal  heat  of  the  globe  was  sufficient  to 
prevent  the  indefinite  descent  of  this  water,  and  to  convert 
it  into  vapor,  a  considerable  quantity  remained  upon  the 
surface  ;  but  the  time  came  when  the  internal  heat  of  the 
globe  was  entirely  dispersed  in  space  and  offered  no  ob- 
stacle to  infiltration.  Then  the  surface  water  gradually 
diminished  ;  it  united  with  the  rocks,  in  the  form  of 
hydrates,  and  thus  disappeared  from  circulation. 

Indeed,  were  the  loss  of  the  surface  water  of  the  globe 
to  amount  only  to  a  few  tenths  of  a  millimeter  yearly,  in 
ten  million  years  none  would  remain. 

This  vapor  of  water  in  the  atmosphere  had  made  warmth 
and  life  possible  ;  with  its  disappearance  came  cold  and 
death.  If  at  present  the  aqueous  vapor  of  the  atmosphere 
should  disappear,  the  heat  of  the  sun  would  be  incapable  of 
maintaining  animal  and  vegetable  life ;  life  which,  more- 
over, could  not  exist,  inasmuch  as  vegetables  and  animals 
are  chiefly  composed  of  water.* 

The  invisible  vapor  of  water,  distributed  through  the 
atmosphere,  exercises  the  greatest  possible  influence  on 


*  Of  all  terrestrial  substances  water  has  the  greatest  specific  heat.  It  cools  more 
slowly  than  any  other.  Its  specific  heat  is  four  times  greater  than  that  of  air.  When 
the  temperature  of  a  kilogram  of  water  falls  one  degree,  it  raises  the  temperature  of 
four  kilograms  of  air  one  degree.  But  water  is  seven  hundred  and  seventy  times 
heavier  than  air,  so  that  if  we  compare  two  equal  volumes  of  water  and  air,  we  find 
that  a  cubic  meter  of  water,  in  losing  one  degree  of  temperature,  raises  the  tempera- 
ture of  seven  hundred  and  seventy  times  four,  or  3080  cubic  meters  of  air  by  the  same 
amount.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  influence  of  the  sea  in  modifying  the  climate 
of  continents.  The  heat  of  summer  is  stored  in  the  ocean  and  is  slowly  given  out  in 
winter.  This  explains  why  islands  and  seashores  have  no  extremes  of  climate.  The 
heat  of  summer  is  tempered  by  the  breezes,  and  the  cold  of  winter  is  alleviated  by  the 
heat  stored  in  the  water. 


OMEGA.  227 

temperature.  In  quantity  this  vapor  seems  almost  negli- 
gible, since  oxygen  and  nitrogen  alone  form  ninety-nine 
and  one-half  per  cent,  of  the  air  we  breathe ;  and  the 
remaining  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  contains,  besides  the 
vapor  of  water,  carbonic  acid,  ammonia  and  other  sub- 
stances. There  is  scarcely  more  than  a  quarter  of  one  per 
cent,  of  aqueous  vapor.  If  we  consider  the  constituent 
atoms  of  the  atmosphere,  the  physicist  tells  us  that  for 
two  hundred  atoms  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen  there  is 
scarcely  one  of  water-vapor  ;  but  this  one  atom  has  eighty 
times  more  absorptive  energy  than  the  two  hundred 
others. 

The  radiant  heat  of  the  sun,  after  traversing  the  atmos- 
phere, warms  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  heat  waves 
reflected  from  the  warmed  earth  are  not  lost  in  space. 
The  aqueous  vapor  atoms,  acting  like  a  barrier,  turn  them 
back  and  preserve  them  for  our  benefit. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  the  most  fruitful 
discoveries  of  modern  physics.  The  oxygen  and  nitrogen 
molecules  of  dry  air  do  not  oppose  the  radiation  of  heat ; 
but,  as  we  have  just  said,  one  molecule  of  water-vapor 
possesses  eighty  times  the  absorptive  energy  of  the  other 
two  hundred  molecules  of  dry  air,  and  consequently  such 
a  molecule  is  sixteen  thousand  times  more  efficacious  in  so 
far  as  the  conservation  of  heat  is  concerned.  So  that  it  is 
the  vapor  of  water  and  not  the  air,  properly  speaking, 
which  regulates  the  conditions  of  life  upon  the  earth. 


228  OMEGA. 

If  one  should  remove  this  vapor  from  the  surrounding 
atmosphere,  a  loss  of  heat  would  go  on  at  the  surface  simi- 
lar to  that  which  takes  place  in  high  altitudes,  for  the 
atmosphere  would  then  be  as  powerless  to  retain  heat  as 
a  vacuum  is.  A  cold  like  that  at  the  surface  of  the  moon 
would  be  the  result.  The  soil  would  still  receive  heat 
directly  from  the  sun,  but  even  during  the  daytime  this 
heat  would  not  be  retained,  and  after  sunset  the  earth 
would  be  exposed  to  the  glacial  cold  of  space,  which 
appears  to  be  about  273°  below  zero.  Thus  vegetable, 
animal  and  human  life  would  be  impossible,  if  it  had  not 
already  become  so,  through  the  very  disappearance  of  the 
water. 

Certainly  we  may  and  must  admit  that  water  has  not 
been  so  essential  a  condition  of  life  on  all  the  worlds  of 
space  as  it  has  been  upon  our  own.  The  resources  of 
nature  are  not  limited  by  human  observation.  There 
must  be,  there  are,  in  the  limitless  realms  of  space,  mill- 
ions and  millions  of  suns  differing  from  ours,  systems  of 
worlds  in  which  other  substances,  other  chemical  com- 
binations, other  physical  and  mechanical  conditions,  other 
environments,  have  produced  beings  absolutely  unlike  our- 
selves, living  another  life,  possessed  of  other  senses, 
differing  in  organization  from  ourselves  far  more  than 
the  fish  or  mollusk  of  the  deep  sea  differs  from  the 
bird  or  the  butterfly.  But  we  are  here  studying-  the 
conditions  of  terrestrial  life,  and  these  conditions  are 


OMEGA 


229 


FOSSIL  SPECIMENS  OF  THE  XXTH.   CENTURY. 


2jo  OMEGA. 

determined    by    the    constitution    of    the    planet    itself. 

The  gradual  filtration  of  water  into  the  interior  of  the 
earth,  keeping  pace  with  the  radiation  of  the  earth's  orig- 
inal heat  into  space,  the  slow  formation  of  oxides  and 
hydrates,  in  about  eight  million  years  reduced  by  three- 
fourths  the  quantity  of  water  in  circulation  on  the  earth's 
surface.  As  a  consequence  of  the  disappearance  of  con- 
tinental elevations,  whose  debris,  obeying  passively  the 
laws  of  gravity,  were  slowly  carried  by  the  rain,  the  wind, 
and  the  streams  to  the  sea,  the  earth  had  become  almost 
level  and  the  seas  more  shallow  ;  but  as  evaporation  and 
the  formation  of  aqueous  vapor  goes  on  only  from  the  sur- 
face and  does  not  depend  upon  the  depth,  the  atmosphere 
was  still  rich  in  vapor.  The  conditions  of  life  upon  the 
planet  were  then  similar  to  those  we  now  observe  on  Mars ; 
where  we  see  that  great  oceans  have  disappeared  or  have 
become  mere  inland  seas  of  slight  depth,  that  the  conti- 
nents are  vast  plains,  that  evaporation  is  active,  that  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  aqueous  vapor  still  exists,  that  rains 
are  rare,  that  snows  abound  in  the  polar  regions  and  are 
almost  entirely  melted  during  the  summer  of  each  year — 
in  short,  a  world  still  habitable  by  beings  analogous  to 
those  that  people  the  earth. 

This  epoch  marked  the  apogee  of  the  human  race. 
Thenceforward  the  conditions  of  life  grew  less  favorable, 
and  from  century  to  century,  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, underwent  marked  change.  Vegetable  and  animal 


OMEGA.  231 

species,  the  human  race  itself,  everything  in  short,  became 
transformed.  But  whereas,  hitherto,  these  metamorphoses 
had  enriched,  embellished  and  perfected  life,  the  day  had 
come  when  decadence  was  to  begin. 

During  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  years  it  was 
insensible,  for  the  parabolic  curve  of  life  did  not  suddenly 
fall  away  from  its  highest  point.  Humanity  had  reached 
a  degree  of  civilization,  of  intellectual  greatness,  of  phy- 
sical and  moral  well-being,  of  scientific,  artistic  and  indus- 
trial perfection,  incomparably  beyond  anything  of  which 
we  know.  For  several  million  years  the  central  heat  of  the 
globe,  had  been  utilized  in  winter  for  general  warming  pur- 
poses by  towns,  villages,  manufactories  and  every  variety 
of  industry.  When  this  failing  source  of  heat  had  finally 
become  exhausted,  the  heat  of  the  sun  had  been  stored 
subject  to  the  wants  of  the  race,  hydrogen  had  been  ex- 
tracted from  sea-water,  the  energy  of  waterfalls,  and  sub- 
sequently that  of  the  tides,  had  been  transformed  into  light 
and  heat,  and  the  entire  planet  had  become  the  plaything 
of  science,  which  disposed  at  will  of  all  its  elements.  The 
human  senses,  perfected  to  a  degree  which  we  should  now 
qualify  as  supernatural,  and  those  newly  acquired,  men- 
tioned above,  become  with  the  lapse  of  time  more  highly 
developed ;  humanity  released  more  and  more  from  the 
empire  of  matter  ;  a  new  system  of  alimentation  ;  the 
spirit  governing  the  body  and  the  gross  appetites  of  for- 
mer times  forgotten  ;  the  psychic  faculties  in  perpetual 


232  OMEGA. 

play,  acting  at  a  distance  over  the  entire  surface  of  the 
globe,  communicating  under  certain  conditions  with  even 
the  inhabitants  of  Mars  and  Venus ;  apparatus  which  we 
cannot  imagine  replacing  those  optical  instruments  with 
which  physical  astronomy  had  begun  its  investigations  ; 
the  whole  world  made  new  in  its  perceptions  and  inter- 
ests ;  an  enlightened  social  condition  from  which  envy 
and  jealousy,  as  well  as  robber}',  suffering  and  murder  had 
disappeared — this,  indeed,  was  a  real  humanity  of  flesh 
and  bone  like  our  own,  but  as  far  above  t  it  in  intellectual 
supremacy  as  we  are  above  the  simians  of  the  tertiary 
epoch. 

Human  intelligence  had  so  completely  mastered  the 
forces  of  nature  that  it  seemed  as  if  so  glorious  an  era 
never  could  come  to  an  end.  The  decrease  in  the  amount 
of  water,  however,  commenced  to  alarm  even  the  most  op- 
timistic. The  great  oceans  had  disappeared.  The  crust  of 
the  earth,  once  so  thin  and  mobile,  had  gradually  increased 
in  thickness,  and,  notwithstanding  the  internal  pressure, 
the  earth  had  become  almost  completely  solidified.  Oscil- 
lations of  the  surface  were  no  longer  possible,  for  it  had 
become  entirely  rigid.  The  seas  which  remained  were 
confined  to  the  tropics.  The  poles  were  frozen.  The 
continents  of  olden  times,  where  so  many  other  foci  of 
civilization  had  shone  so  brilliantly,  were  immense  des- 
erts. Step  by  step  humanity  had  migrated  towards  the 
tropical  zone,  still  watered  by  streams,  lakes  and  seas. 


OMEGA. 


233 


RUDIMENTARY  SPECIES  OF  CRYPTOGAMS  ONLY  SURVIVED." 


#4  OMEGA. 

There  were  no  more  mountains,  no  more  condensers  of 
snow. 

As  the  quantity  of  water  and  rainfall  diminished,  and, 
as  the  springs  failed  and  the  aqueous  vapor  of  the  atmos- 
phere grew  less,  vegetation  had  entirely  changed  its 
aspect,  increasing  the  volume  of  its  leaves  and  the  length 
of  its  roots,  seeking  in  every  way  to  absorb  the  humidity 
necessary  for  life.  Species  which  had  not  been  able  to 
adjust  themselves  to  the  new  conditions  had  vanished  ;  the 
rest  were  transformed.  Not  a  tree  or  a  plant  with  which 
we  are  familiar  was  to  be  seen.  There  were  no  oaks,  nor 
ashes,  nor  elms,  nor  willows,  and  the  landscape  bore  no 
resemblance  to  that  of  today.  Rudimentary  species  of 
cryptogams  only  survived. 

Like  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  animal  kingdom. 
Animal  forms  had  been  greatly  modified.  The  wild  spe- 
cies had  either  disappeared  or  been  domesticated.  The 
scarcity  of  water  had  modified  the  food  of  herbivora  as 
well  as  carnivora.  The  most  recent  species,  evolved  from 
those  which  preceded  them,  were  smaller,  with  less  fat 
and  a  larger  skeleton.  The  number  of  plants  had  sensibly 
decreased.  Less  of  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  air  was  ab- 
sorbed, and  a  proportionally  greater  quantity  existed  in 
the  atmosphere.  As  for  the  human  race,  its  metamor- 
phosis was  so  absolute  that  it  was  with  an  astonishment 
bordering  on  incredulity  that  one  saw  in  geological  mu- 
seums fossil  specimens  of  men  of  the  twentieth  or  one 


OMEGA.  $35 

hundredth  century,  with  great  brutal  teeth  and  coarse 
intestines  ;  it  was  difficult  to  admit  that  organisms  so 
gross  could  really  be  the  ancestors  of  intellectual  man. 

Though  millions  of  years  had  passed,  the  sun  still 
poured  upon  the  earth  almost  the  same  quantity  of  heat 
and  light.  At  most,  the  loss  had  not  exceeded  one-tenth. 
The  only  difference  was  that  the  sun  appeared  a  little 
yellower  and  a  little  smaller. 

The  moon  still  revolved  about  the  earth,  but  more 
slowly.  Its  distance  from  the  earth  had  increased  and  its 
apparent  diameter  had  diminished.  At  the  same  time 
the  period  of  the  earth's  rotation  had  lengthened.  This 
slower  rotatory  motion  of  the  earth,  increase  in  the  dis- 
tance of  the  moon,  and  lengthening  of  the  lunar  month, 
were  the  results  of  the  friction  of  the  tides,  whose  action 
resembled  that  of  a  brake.  If  the  earth  and  the  moon 
last  long  enough,  and  there  are  still  oceans  and  tides,  cal- 
culation would  enable  us  to  predict  that  the  time  would 
come  when  the  periodic  time  of  the  earth's  rotation  would 
finally  equal  the  lunar  month,  so  that  there  would  be  but 
five  and  one-quarter  days  in  the  year :  the  earth  would 
then  always  present  the  same  side  to  the  moon.  But  this 
would  require  more  than  150  million  years.  The  period 
of  which  we  are  speaking,  ten  million  years,  is  but  a 
fifteenth  of  the  above  ;  and  the  time  of  the  earth's  rota- 
tion, instead  of  being  seventy  times,  was  only  four  and 
one-half  times  greater  than  it  now  is,  or  about  no  hours. 


2j6  OMEGA. 

These  long  days  exposed  the  earth  to  the  prolonged 
action  of  the  sun,  but  except  in  those  regions  where  its 
rays  were  normal  to  the  surface,  that  is  to  say  in  the  equa- 
torial zone  between  the  two  tropical  circles,  this  exposure 
availed  nothing  ;  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  had  not 
changed  ;  the  inclination  of  the  axis  of  the  earth  being 
the  same,  about  two  degrees,  and  the  changes  in  the 
eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  had  produced  no  sensible 
effect  upon  the  seasons  or  the  climate. 

The  human  form,  food,  respiration,  organic  functions, 
physical  and  intellectual  life,  ideas,  opinions,  religion, 
science,  language — all  had  changed.  Of  present  man 
almost  nothing  survived. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  last  habitable  regions  of  the  globe  were  two  wide 
valleys  near  the  equator,  the  basins  of  dried  up  seas  ;  val- 
leys of  slight  depth,  for  the  general  level  was  almost  ab- 
solutely uniform.  No  mountain  peaks,  ravines  or  wild 
gorges,  not  a  single  wooded  valley  or  precipice  was  to  be 
seen ;  the  world  was  one  vast  plain,  from  which  rivers  and 
seas  had  gradually  disappeared.  But  as  the  action  of 
meteorological  agents,  rainfall  and  streams,  had  dimin- 
ished in  intensity  with  the  loss  of  water,  the  last  hollows 
of  the  sea  bottom  had  not  been  entirely  filled  up,  and 

shallow  valleys  remained,  vestiges  of  the  former  structure 

237 


238  OMEGA. 

of  the  globe.  In  these  a  little  ice  and  moisture  were  left, 
but  the  circulation  of  water  in  the  atmosphere  had  ceased, 
and  the  rivers  flowed  in  subterranean  channels  as  in  in- 
visible veins. 

As  the  atmosphere  contained  no  aqueous  vapor,  the  sky 
was  always  cloudless,  and  there  was  neither  rain  nor  snow. 
The  sun,  less  dazzling  'and  less  hot  than  formerly,  shone 
with  the  yellowish  splendor  of  a  topaz.  The  color  of  the 
sky  was  sea-green  rather  than  blue.  The  volume  of  the 
atmosphere  had  diminished  considerably.  Its  oxygen  and 
nitrogen  had  become  in  part  fixed  in  metallic  combina- 
tions, as  oxides  and  nitrides,  and  its  carbonic  acid  had 
slowly  increased,  as  vegetation,  deprived  of  water,  became 
more  and  more  rare  and  absorbed  an  ever  decreasing 
amount  of  this  gas.  But  the  mass  of  the  earth,  owing 
to  the  constant  fall  of  meteorites,  bolides  and  uranolites, 
had  increased  with  time ;  so  that  the  atmosphere,  though 
considerably  less  in  volume,  had  retained  its  density  and 
exerted  nearly  the  same  pressure. 

Strangely  enough,  the  snow  and  ice  had  diminished  as 
the  earth  grew  cold  ;  the  cause  of  this  low  temperature  was 
the  absence  of  water  vapor  from  the  atmosphere,  which 
had  decreased  with  the  superficial  area  of  the  sea.  As  the 
water  penetrated  the  interior  of  the  earth  and  the  general 
level  became  more  uniform,  first  the  depth  and  then  the 
area  of  seas  had  been  reduced,  the  invisible  envelope  of 
aqueous  vapor  had  lost  its  protecting  power,  and  the  day 


OMEGA.  239 

came  when  the  return  of  the  heat  received  from  the  sun 
was  no  longer  prevented,  it  was  radiated  into  space  as 
rapidly  as  it  was  received,  as  if  it  fell  upon  a  mirror  inca- 
pable of  absorbing  its  rays. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  earth.  The  last  repre- 
sentatives of  the  human  race  had  survived  all  these  physi- 
cal transformations- solely  by  virtue  of  its  genius  of  inven- 
tion and  power  of  adaptation.  Its  last  efforts  had  been 
directed  toward  extracting  nutritious  substances  from  the 
air,  from  subterranean  water,  and  from  plants,  and  replac- 
ing the  vanished  vapor  of  the  air  by  buildings  and  roofs 
of  glass. 

It  was  necessary  at  any  cost  to  capture  these  solar  rays 
and  to  prevent  their  radiation  into  space.  It  was  easy  to 
store  up  this  heat  in  large  quantities,  for  the  sun  shone 
unobscured  by  any  cloud  and  the  day  was  long — fifty-five 
hours. 

For  a  long  time  the  efforts  of  architects  had  been  solely 
directed  towards  this  imprisonment  of  the  sun's  rays  and 
the  prevention  of  their  dispersion  during  the  fifty-five 
hours  of  the  night.  They  had  succeeded  in  accomplish- 
ing this  by  an  ingenius  arrangement  of  glass  roofs,  super- 
posed one  upon  the  other,  and  by  movable  screens.  All 
combustible  material  had  long  before  been  exhausted ;  and 
even  the  hydrogen  extracted  from  water  was  difficult  to 
obtain. 

The  mean  temperature  in  the  open  air  during  the  day- 


240  OMEGA. 

time  was  not  very  low,  not  falling  below  -10°.*  Not- 
withstanding the  changes  which  the  ages  had  wrought  in 
vegetable  life,  no  species  of  plants  could  exist,  even  in 
this  equatorial  zone. 

As  for  the  other  latitudes,  they  had  been  totally  unin- 
habitable for  thousands  of  years,  in  spite  of  every  effort 
made  to  live  in  them.  In  the  latitudes  of  Paris,  Nice, 
Rome,  Naples,  Algiers  and  Tunis,  all  protective  atmos- 
pheric action  had  ceased,  and  the  oblique  rays  of  the  sun 
had  proved  insufficient  to  warm  the  soil  which  was  frozen 
to  a  great  depth,  like  a  veritable  block  of  ice.  The  world's 
population  had  gradually  diminished  from  ten  milliards 
to  nine,  to  eight,  and  then  to  seven,  one-half  the  surface 
of  the  globe  being  then  habitable.  As  the  habitable  zone 
became  more  and  more  restricted  to  the  equator,  the  popu 
lation  had  still  further  diminished,  as  had  also  the  mean 
length  of  human  life,  and  the  day  came  when  only  a  few 
hundred  millions  remained,  scattered  in  groups  along  the 
equator,  and  maintaining  life  only  by  the  artifices  of  a 
laborious  and  scientific  industry. 

Later  still,  toward  the  end,  only  two  groups  of  a  few 
hundred  human  beings  were  left,  occupying  the  last  sur- 
viving centers  of  industry.  From  all  the  rest  of  the  globe 


: 


*  Many  readers  will  regard  this  climate  quite  bearable,  inasmuch,  as  in  onr  own 
day  regions  may  be  cited  whose  mean  temperature  is  much  lower,  yet  which  are  never- 
theless habitable,  as,  for  example,  Verchnoiansk,  whose  mean  annual  temperature  is 
-19.3°.  But  in  these  regions  there  is  a  summer  during  which  the  ice  melts  ;  and  if  in 
January  the  temperature  falls  to  -60°,  and  even  lower,  in  July  they  enjoy  a  temperature 
of  fifteen  and  twenty  degrees  above  zero.  But  at  the  stage  w'hich  we  have  now  reached 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  this  mean  temperature  of  the  equatorial  zone  was  constant, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  ice  ever  to  melt  again. 


OMEGA.  241 

the  human  race  had  slowly  but  inexorably  disappeared — 
dried  up,  exhausted,  degenerated,  from  century  to  century, 
through  the  lack  of  an  assimilable  atmosphere  and  suffi- 
cient food.  Its  last  remnants  seemed  to  have  lapsed  back 
into  barbarism,  vegetating  like  the  Esquimaux  of  the 
north.  These  two  ancient  centers  of  civilization,  them- 
selves yielding  to  decay,  had  survived  only  at  the  cost  of  a 
constant  struggle  between  industrial  genius  and  implac- 
able nature. 

Even  here,  between  the  tropics  and  the  equator,  the  two 
remaining  groups  of  human  beings  which  still  contrived 
to  exist  in  face  of  a  thousand  hardships  which  yearly  be- 
came more  insupportable,  did  so  only  by  subsisting,  so  to 
speak,  on  what  their  predecessors  had  left  behind.  These 
two  ocean  valleys,  one  of  which  was  near  the  bottom  of 
what  is  now  the  Pacific  ocean,  the  other  to  the  south  of 
the  present  island  of  Ceylon,  had  formerly  been  the  sites 
of  two  immense  cities  of  glass — iron  and  glass  having 
been,  for  a  long  time,  the  materials  chiefly  employed  in 
building  construction.  They  resembled  vast  winter-gar- 
dens, without  upper  stories,  with  transparent  ceilings  of 
immense  height.  Here  were  to  be  found  the  last  plants, 
except  those  cultivated  in  the  subterranean  galleries  lead- 
ing to  rivers  flowing  under  ground. 

Elsewhere  the  surface  of  the  earth  was  a  ruin,  and 
even  here  only  the  last  vestiges  of  a  vanished  greatness 
were  to  be  seen. 

16 


242 


OMEGA . 


THK   SOLE   SURVIVORS. 


In  the  first  of  these  ancient  cities  of  glass,  the  sole 
survivors  were  two  old  men,  and  the  grandson  of  one 
of  them,  Omegar,  who  had  seen  his  mother  and  sisters 
die,  one  after  the  other,  of  consumption,  and  who  now 
wandered  in  despair  through  these  vast  solitudes.  Of 
these  old  men,  one  had  formerly  been  a  philosopher  and 
had  consecrated  his  long  life  to  the  study  of  the  his- 
tory of  perishing  humanity  ;  the  other  was  a  physician 
who  had  in  vain  sought  to  save  from  consumption  the 


OMEGA.  243 

last  inhabitants  of  the  world.  Their  bodies  seemed 
wasted  by  anaemia  rather  than  by  age.  They  were  pale 
as  specters,  with  long,  white  beards,  and  only  their  moral 
energy  sustained  them  yet  an  instant  against  the  de- 
cree of  destiny.  But  they  could  not  struggle  longer 
against  this  destiny,  and  one  day  Omegar  found  them 
stretched  lifeless,  side  by  side.  From  the  dying  hands 
of  one  fell  the  last  history  ever  written,  the  history 
of  the  final  transformations  of  humanity,  written  half 
a  century  before.  The  second  had  died  in  his  labora- 
tory while  endeavoring  to  keep  in  order  the  nourish- 
ment tubes,  automatically  regulated  by  machinery  pro- 
pelled by  solar  engines. 

The  last  servants,  long  before  developed  by  educa- 
tion from  the  simian  race,  had  succumbed  many  years 
before,  as  had  also  the  great  majority  of  the  animal 
species  domesticated  for  the  service  of  humanity. 
Horses,  dogs,  reindeers,  and  certain  large  birds  used  in 
aerial  service,  yet  survived,  but  so  entirely  changed 
that  they  bore  no  resemblance  to  their  progenitors. 

It  was  evident  that  the  race  was  irrevocably 
doomed.  Science  had  disappeared  with  scientists,  art 
with  artists,  and  the  survivors  lived  only  upon  the 
past.  The  heart  knew  no  more  hope,  the  spirit  no 
ambition.  The  light  was  in  the  past ;  the  future  was 
an  eternal  night.  All  was  over.  The  glories  of  days 
gone  by  had  forever  vanished.  If,  in  preceding  cen- 


244  OMEGA. 

turies,  some  traveller,  wandering  in  these  solitudes, 
thought  he  had  rediscovered  the  sites  of  Paris,  Rome, 
or  the  brilliant  capitals  which  had  succeeded  them,  he 
was  the  victim  of  his  own  imagination ;  for  these  sites 
had  not  existed  for  millions  of  years,  having  been  swept 
away  by  the  waters  of  the  sea.  Vague  traditions 
had  floated  down  through  the  ages,  thanks  to  the 
printing-press  and  the  recorders  of  the  great  events  of 
history ;  but  even  these  traditions  were  uncertain  and 
often  false.  For,  as  to  Paris,  the  annals  of  history 
contained  only  some  references  to  a  maritime  Paris ; 
of  its  existence  as  the  capital  of  France  for  thousands 
of  years,  there  was  no  trace  nor  memory.  The  names 
which  to  us  seem  immortal,  Confucius,  Plato,  Mahomet, 
Alexander,  Caesar,  Charlemagne,  and  Napoleon,  had 
perished  and  were  forgotten.  Art  had,  indeed,  pre- 
served noble  memories  ;  but  these  memories  did  not 
extend  as  far  back  as  the  infancy  of  humanity,  and 
reached  only  a  few  million  years  into  the  past.  Ome- 
gar  lingered  in  an  ancient  gallery  of  pictures,  be- 
queathed by  former  centuries,  and  contemplated  the 
great  cities  which  had  disappeared.  Only  one  of  these 
pictures  related  to  what  had  once  been  Europe,  and 
was  a  view  of  Paris,  consisting  of  a  promontory  pro- 
jecting into  the  sea,  crowned  by  an  astronomical 
temple  and  gay  with  helicopterons  circling  above  the 
lofty  towers  of  its  terraces.  Immense  ships  were  plow^ 


OMEGA  . 


245 


"ALL  DAY   LONG   HE    WANDERED   THROUGH   THE   VAST    GALLERIES.1' 


^<5  OMEGA. 

ing  the  sea.  This  classic  Paris  was  the  Paris  of  the 
one  hundred  and  seventieth  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  corresponding  to  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-seventh 
of  the  astronomical  era — the  Paris  which  existed  im- 
mediately prior  to  the  final  submergence  of  the  land. 
Even  its  name  had  changed ;  for  words  change  like 
persons  and  things.  Nearby,  other  pictures  portrayed 
the  great  but  less  ancient  cities  which  had  risen  in 
America,  Australia,  Asia,  and  afterwards  upon  the  con- 
tinents which  had  emerged  from  the  ocean.  And  so 
this  museum  of  the  past  recalled  in  succession  the 
passing  pomps  of  humanity  down  to  the  end. 

» The  end !  The  hour  had  struck  on  the  time-piece 
of  destiny.  Omegar  knew  the  life  of  the  world  hence- 
forth was  in  the  past,  that  no  future  existed  for  it,  and 
that  the  present  even  was  vanishing  like  the  dream  of 
a  moment.  The  last  heir  of  the  human  race  felt  the 
overwhelming  sentiment  of  the  vanity  of  things. 
Should  he  wait  for  some  inconceivable  miracle  to  save 
him  from  his  fate?  Should  he  bury  his  companions, 
and  share  their  tomb  with  them  ?  Should  he  endeavor 
to  prolong  for  a  few  days,  a  few  weeks,  a  few  years 
even,  a  solitary,  useless  and  despairing  existence?  All 
day  long  he  wandered  through  the  vast  and  silent  gal- 
leries, and  at  night  abandoned  himself  to  the  drowsi- 
ness which  oppressed  him.  All  about  him  was  dark — 
the  darkness  of  the  sepulchre. 


OMEGA.  247 

A  sweet  dream,  however,  stirred  his  slumbering 
thought,  and  surrounded  his  soul  with  a  halo  of  an- 
gelic brightness.  Sleep  brought  him  the  illusion  of 
life.  He  was  no  longer  alone.  A  seductive  image 
which  he  had  seen  more  than  once  before,  stood  be: 
fore  him.  Eyes  caressing  as  the  light  of  heaven,  deep 
as  the  infinite,  gazed  upon  him  and  attracted  him. 
He  was  in  a  garden  filled  with  the  perfume  of  flow- 
ers. Birds  sang  in  the  nests  amid  the  foliage.  And 
in  the  distant  landscape,  framed  in  plants  and  flowers, 
were  the  vast  ruins  of  dead  cities.  Then  he  saw  a 
lake,  on  whose  rippling  surface  two  swans  glided, 
bearing  a  cradle  from  which  a  new-born  child  stretched 
toward  him  its  arms. 

Never  had  such  a  ray  of  light  illuminated  his  soul. 
So  deep  was  his  emotion  that  he  suddenly  awoke, 
opened  his  eyes,  and  found  confronting  him  only  the 
somber  reality.  Then  a  sadness  more  terrible  even 
than  any  he  had  known  filled  his  whole  being.  He 
could  not  find  an  instant  of  repose.  He  rose,  went  to 
his  couch,  and  waited  anxiously  for  the  morning.  He 
remembered  his  dream,  but  he  did  not  believe  in  it. 
He  felt,  vaguely,  that  another  human  being  existed 
somewhere ;  but  his  degenerate  race  had  lost,  in  part, 
its  psychic  power,  and  perhaps,  also,  woman  always  ex- 
erts upon  man  an  attraction  more  powerful  than  that 
which  man  exerts  upon  woman.  When  the  day  broke, 


248  OMEGA. 

when  the  last  man  saw  the  ruins  of  his  ancient  city 
standing  out  upon  the  sky  of  dawn,  when  he  found 
himself  alone  with  the  two  last  dead,  he  realized  more 
than  ever  his  unavoidable  destiny,  and  decided  to  ter- 
minate at  once  a  life  so  hopelessly  miserable. 

Going  into  the  laboratory,  he  sought  a  bottle  whose 
contents  were  well  known  to  him,  uncorked  it,  and 
carried  it  to  his  lips,  to  empty  it  at  a  draught.  But, 
at  the  very  moment  the  vial  touched  his  lips,  he  felt 
a  hand  upon  his  arm. 

He  turned  suddenly.  There  was  no  one  in  the 
laboratory,  and  in  the  gallery  he  found  only  the  two 
dead. 


CHAPTER   V. 

IN  the  ruins  of  the  other  equatorial  city,  occupying  a 
once  submerged  valley  south  of  the  island  of  Ceylon, 
was  a  young  girl,  whose  mother  and  older  sister  had 
perished  of  consumption  and  cold,  and  who  was  now 
left  alone,  the  last  surviving  member  of  the  last  fam- 
ily of  the  race.  A  few  trees,  of  northern  species,  had 
been  preserved  under  the  spacious  dome  of  glass,  and 
beneath  their  scanty  foliage,  holding  the  cold  hands  of 

her   mother  who   had    died  the  night   before,  the  young 

249 


250  OMEGA. 

girl  sat  alone,  doomed  to  death  in  the  very  flower  of 
her  age.  The  night  was  cold.  In  the  sky  above  the 
full  moon  shone  like  a  golden  torch,  but  its  yellow 
rays  were  as  cold  as  the  silver  beams  of  the  ancient 
Selene.  In  the  vast  room  reigned  the  stillness  and 
solitude  of  death,  broken  only  by  the  young  girl's 
breathing,  which  seemed  to  animate  the  silence  with 
the  semblance  of  life. 

She  was  not  weeping.  Her  sixteen  years  contained 
more  experience  and  knowledge  than  sixty  years  of  the 
world's  prime.  She  knew  that  she  was  the  sole  sur- 
vivor of  this  last  group  of  human  beings,  and  that 
every  happiness,  every  joy  and  every  hope  had  van- 
ished .forever.  There  was  no  present,  no  future ;  only 
solituderand  silence,  the  physical  and  moral  impossibil- 
ity of  life,  and  soon  eternal  sleep.  She  thought  of 
the  woman  df  bygone  days,  of  those  who  had  lived 
the  real  life  of  humanity,  of  lovers,  wives  and  mothers, 
but  to  her  red  *  and  tearless  eyes  appeared  only  images 
of  death ;  while  beyond  the  walls  of  glass  stretched 
a  barren  desert,  covered  by  the  last  ice  and  the  last 
snow.  Now  her  young  heart  beat  violently  in  her 
breast,  till  her  slender  hands  could  no  longer  com- 
press its  tumult;  and  now  life  seemed  arrested  in  her 
bosom,  and  every  respiration  suspended.  If  for  a 
moment  she  fell  asleep,  in  her  dreams  she  played 
again  with  her  laughing  and  care-free  sister,  while 


OMEGA. 


her  mother  sung  in  a  pure  and  penetrating  voice  the 
beautiful  inspirations  of  the  last  poets  ;  and  she  seemed 
to  see,  once  more,  the  last  fetes  of  a  brilliant  society, 
as  if  reflected  from  the  surface  of  some  distant  mir- 
ror. Then,  on  awakening,  these  magic  memories 
faded  into  the  somber  reality.  Alone  !  Alone  in  the 
world,  and  tomorrow  death,  without  having  known 
life !  To  struggle  against  this  unavoidable  fate  was 
useless  ;  the  decree  of  destiny  was  without  appeal,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  submit,  to  await  the 
inevitable  end,  since  without  food  or  air  organic  life 
was  impossible 
ticipate  death 
self  at  once 
existence  and 
She  passed  into 
where  the  warm 
flowing,  al- 
pliances  which 
ed  to  supply  the 
were  no  longer 
der  ;  for  the  last 
vants  (descend- 
simian  species, 
human  race  had 
changing  con- 
had  also  SUC-  -ALONE!' 


else  to  an- 
and  deliver  one- 
from  a  joyless 
a  certain  doom, 
the  bath-room, 
water  was  still 
though  the  ap- 
art had  design- 
wants  of  life 
in  working  or- 
remaining  ser- 
ants  of  ancient 
modified,  as  the 
been,  by  the 
ditions  of  life,) 
cumbed  to  the 


252  OMEGA. 

insufficiency  of  water.  She  plunged  into  the  perfumed 
bath,  turned  the  key  which  regulated  the  supply  of 
electricity  derived  from  subterranean  water-courses  still 
unfrozen,  and  for  a  moment  seemed  to  forget  the  de- 
cree of  destiny  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  refreshing  rest. 
Had  any  indiscreet  spectator  beheld  her  as,  standing  upon 
the  bear-skin  before  the  large  mirror,  she  began  to  ar- 
range the  tresses  of  her  long  auburn  hair,  he  would  have 
detected  a  smile  upon  her  lips,  showing  that,  for  an  in- 
stant, she  was  oblivious  of  her  dark  future.  Passing  into 
another  room,  she  approached  the  apparatus  which  fur- 
nished the  food  of  that  time,  extracted  from  the  water, 
air,  and  the  plants  and  fruits  automatically  cultivated  in 
the  greenhouses. 

It  was  still  in  working  order,  like  a  clock  which  has 
been  wound  up.  For  thousands  of  years  the  genius  of 
man  had  been  almost  exclusively  applied  to  the  strug- 
gle with  destiny.  The  last  remaining  water  had  been 
forced  to  circulate  in  subterranean  canals,  where  also 
the  solar  heat  had  been  stored.  The  last  animals  had 
been  trained  to  serve  these  machines,  and  the  nutritious 
properties  of  the  last  plants  had  been  utilized  to  the 
utmost.  Men  had  finally  succeeded  in  living  iipon 
almost  nothing,  so  far  as  quantity  was  concerned ; 
every  newly  discovered  form  of  food  being  completely 
assimilable.  Cities  had  finally  been  built  of  glass, 
open  to  the  sun,  to  which  was  conveyed  every  sub- 


OMEGA.  253 

stance  necessary  to  the  synthesis  of  the  food  which  re- 
placed the  products  of  nature.  But  as  time  passed,  it 
became  more  and  more  difficult  to  obtain  the  necessaries 
of  life.  The  mine  was  at  last  exhausted.  Matter  had 
been  conquered  by  intelligence  ;  but  the  day  had  come 
when  intelligence  itself  was  overmatched,  when  every 
worker  had  died  at  his  post  and  the  earth's  storehouse 
had  been  depleted.  Unwilling  to  abandon  this  desper- 
ate struggle,  man  had  put  forth  every  effort.  But  he 
could  not  prevent  the  earth's  absorption  of  water,  and 
the  last  resources  of  a  science  which  seemed  greater 
even  than  nature  itself  had  been  exhausted. 

Eva  returned  to  the  body  of  her  mother,  and  once 
more  took  the  cold  hands  in  her  own.  The  psychic 
faculties  of  the  race  in  these  its  latter  days  had  ac- 
quired, as  we  have  said,  transcendent  powers,  and  she 
thought  for  a  moment  to  summon  her  mother  from 
the  tomb.  It  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  must  have  one 
more  approving  glance,  one  more  counsel.  A  single 
idea  took  possession  of  her,  so  fascinating  her  that  she 
even  lost  the  desire  to  die.  She  saw  afar  the  soul 
which  should  respond  to  her  own.  Every  man  be- 
longing to  that  company  of  which  she  was  the  last 
survivor  had  died  before  her  birth.  Woman  had  out- 
lived the  sex  once  called  strong.  In  the  pictures  up- 
on the  walls  of  the  great  library,  in  books,  engrav- 
ings and  statues,  she  saw  represented  the  great  men  of 


254  OMEGA. 

the  city,  but  she  had  never  seen  a  living  man  ;  and 
still  dreaming,  strange  and  disquieting  forms  passed  be- 
fore her.  She  was  transported  into  an  unknown  and 
mysterious  world,  into  a  new  life,  and  love  did  not  seem 
to  be  yet  wholly  banished  from  earth.  During  the  reign 
of  cold,  all  electrical  communication  between  the  two 
last  cities  left  upon  the  earth  had  been  interrupted. 
Their  inhabitants  could  speak  no  more  with  eath  other, 
see  each  other  no  more,  nor  feel  each  other's  presence. 
Yet  she  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  ocean  city  as 
if  she  had  seen  it,  and  when  she  fixed  her  eyes  upon 
the  great  terrestrial  globe  suspended  from  the  ceiling  of 
the  library,  and  then,  closing  them,  concentrated  all  her 
will  and  psychic  power  upon  the  object  of  her  thoughts, 
she  acted  at  a  distance  as  effectively,  though  in  a  dif- 
ferent way,  as  in  former  days  men  had  done  when 
communicating  with  each  other  by  electricity.  She 
called,  and  felt  that  another  heard  and  understood.  The 
preceding  night  she  had  transported  herself  to  the  an- 
cient city  in  which  Omegar  lived,  and  had  appeared  to 
him  for  an  instant  in  a  dream.  That  very  morning  she 
had  witnessed  his  despairing  act  and  by  a  supreme  effort 
of  the  will  had  arrested  his  arm.  And  now,  stretched 
in  her  chair  beside  the  dead  body  of  her  mother,  heavy 
with  sleep,  her  solitary  soul  wandered  in  dreams  above 
the  ocean  city,  seeking  the  companionship  of  the  only 
mate  left  upon  the  earth.  And  far  away,  in  that  ocean 


OMEGA. 


255 


Py  G.  Rochtgrosse. 

"  SHK  FELT  THAT  ANOTHKK   HEARD  AND  UNDERSTOOD." 


256 


OMEGA  . 


city,  Omegar  heard  her  call.  Slowly,  as  in  a  dream, 
he  ascended  the  platform  from  which  the  air-ships  used 
to  take  their  flight.  Yielding  to  a  mysterious  influence, 

he  obeyed  the  distant 
summons.  Speeding  to- 
ward the  west,  the  elec- 
tric air-ship  passed  above 
the  frozen  regions  of  the 
tropics,  once  the  site  of 
the  Pacific  ocean,  Poly- 
nesia, Malaisia  and  the 
Sunda  islands,  and 
stopped  at  the  landing 


YOU   CALLED  ME.      I   HAVE  COME," 


OMEGA.  257 

of  the  crystal  palace.  The  young  girl,  startled  from  her 
dream  by  the  traveller,  who  fell  from  the  air  at  her  feet, 
fled  in  terror  to  the  farther  end  of  the  immense  hall,  lift- 
ing the  heavy  curtain  of  skin  which  separated  it  from 
the  library.  When  the  young  man  reached  her  side,  he 
stopped,  knelt,  and  took  her  hand  in  his,  saying  simply  : 
"  You  called  me.  I  have  come."  And  then  he  added  : 
u  I  have  known  you  for  a  long  time.  I  knew  that  you 
existed,  I  have  often  seen  you  ;  you  are  the  constant 
thought  of  my  heart,  but  I  did  not  dare  to  come." 

She  bade  him  rise,  saying  :  "  My  friend,  I  know  that 
we  are  alone  in  the  world,  and  that  we  are  about  to  die. 
A  will  stronger  than  my  own  compelled  me  to  call  you. 
It  seemed  as  if  it  were  the  supreme  desire  of  my  mother, 
supreme  even  in  death.  See,  she  sleeps  thus  since  yester- 
day. How  long  the  night  is  !  " 

The  young  man,  kneeling,  had  taken  the  hand  of  the 
dead,  and  they  both  stood  there  beside  the  funeral  couch, 
as  if  in  prayer. 

He  leaned  gently  toward  the  young  girl,  and  their  heads 
touched.  He  let  fall  the  hand  of  the  dead. 

Eva  shuddered.     "  No,"  she  said. 

Then,  suddenly,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  in  terror  ;  the 
dead  woman  had  revived.  She  had  withdrawn  the  hand 
which  he  had  taken  in  his  own,  and  had  opened  her  eyes. 
She  made  a  movement,  looking  at  them. 

"  I  wake  from  a  strange  dream,"  she  said,  without  seem- 

17 


25* 


OM  E GA . 


"  '  BEHOLD,   WHERE  WE  SHALL  BE  TOMORROW 


OMEGA.  259 

ing  surprised  at  the  presence  of  Omegar.  "  Behold,  my 
children,  my  dream  ;  "  and  she  pointed  to  the  planet  Jupi- 
ter, shining  with  dazzling  splendor  in  the  sky. 

And  as  they  gazed  upon  the  star,  to  their  astonished 
vision,  it  appeared  to  approach  them,  to  grow  larger,  to 
take  the  place  of  the  frozen  scene  about  them. 

Its  immense  seas  were  covered  with  ships.  Aerial  fleets 
cleaved  the  air.  The  shores  of  its  seas  and  the  mouths  of 
its  great  rivers  were  the  scenes  of  a  prodigious  activity. 
Brilliant  cities  appeared,  peopled  by  moving  multitudes. 
Neither  the  details  of  their  habitations  nor  the  forms  of 
these  new  beings  could  be  distinguished,  but  one  divined 
that  here  was  a  humanity  quite  different  from  ours,  living 
in  the  bosom  of  another  nature,  having  other  senses  at  its 
disposal  ;  and  one  felt  also  that  this  vast  world  was  in- 
comparably superior  to  the  earth. 

"  Behold,  where  we  shall  be  tomorrow  !  "  said  the  dying 
woman.  "  We  shall  find  there  all  the  human  race,  per- 
fected and  transformed.  Jupiter  has  received  the  inheri- 
tance of  the  earth.  Our  world  has  accomplished  its  mis- 
sion, and  life  is  over  here  below.  Farewell  !  " 

She  stretched  out  her  arms  to  them ;  they  bent  over  her 
pale  face  and  pressed  a  long  kiss  upon  her  forehead.  But 
they  perceived  that  this  forehead  was  cold  as  marble,  in 
spite  of  this  strange  awakening. 

The  dead  woman  had  closed  her  eyes,  to  open  them  no 
more. 


'  ; 

I    r^  -      J 


CHAPTER   VI. 

IT  is  sweet  to  live.  Love  atones  for  every  loss  ;  in  its 
joys  all  else  is  forgotten.  Ineffable  music  of  the  heart, 
thy  divine  melody  fill  the  soul  with  an  ecstasy  of  infinite 
happiness  !  What  illustrious  historians  have  celebrated 
the  heroes  of  the  world's  progress,  the  glories  of  war,  the 
conquests  of  mind  and  of  spirit  !  Yet  after  so  many  cen- 
turies of  labor  and  struggle,  there  remained  only  two  pal- 
pitating hearts,  the  kisses  of  two  lovers.  All  had  perished 
except  love  ;  and  love,  the  supreme  sentiment,  endured, 
shining  like  an  inextinguishable  beacon  over  the  immense 
ocean  of  the  vanished  ages. 


OMEGA.  261 

Death  !  They  did  not  dream  of  it.  Did  they  not  suf- 
fice for  each  other  ?  What  if  the  cold  froze  their  very 
marrow  ?  Did  they  not  possess  in  their  hearts  a  warmth 
which  defied  the  cold  of  nature  ?  Did  not  the  sun  still 
shine  gloriously,  and  was  not  the  final  doom  of  the  world 
yet  far  distant  ?  Omegar  bent  every  energy  to  the  main- 
tenance of  the  marvellous  system  which  had  been  devised 
for  the  automatic  extraction  by  chemical  processes  of  the 
nutritive  principles  of  the  air,  water  and  plants,  and  in 
this  he  seemed  to  be  successful.  So  in  other  days,  after 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  barbarians  had  been 
seen  to  utilize  during  centuries  the  aqueducts,  baths  and 
thermal  springs,  all  the  creations  of  the  civilization  of  the 
Caesars,  and  to  draw  from  a  vanished  industry  the  sources 
of  their  own  strength. 

But  one  day,  wonderful  as  it  was,  this  system  gave  out. 
The  subterranean  waters  themselves  ceased  to  flow.  The 
soil  was  frozen  to  a  great  depth.  The  rays  of  the  sun  still 
warmed  the  air  within  the  glass-covered  dwellings,  but 
no  plant  could  live  longer  ;  the  supply  of  water  was  ex- 
hausted. 

The  combined  efforts  of  science  and  industry  were  im- 
potent to  give  to  the  atmosphere  the  nutritive  qualities 
possessed  by  those  of  other  worlds,  and  the  human  organ- 
ism constantly  clamored  for  the  regenerating  principles 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  derived  from  the  air, 
water  and  plants.  These  sources  were  now  exhausted. 


262  OMEGA. 

This  last  human  pair  struggled  against  these  insur- 
mountable obstacles,  and  recognized  the  uselessness  of 
farther  contest,  yet  they  were  not  resigned  to  death.  Be- 
fore knowing  each  other  they  had  awaited  it  fearlessly. 
Now  each  wished  to  defend  the  other,  the  beloved  one, 
against  pitiless  destiny.  The  very  idea  of  seeing  Omegar 
lying  inanimate  beside  her,  filled  Kva  with  such  anguish 
that  she  could  not  bear  the  thought.  And  he,  too,  vainly 
longed  to  carry  away  his  well  beloved  from  a  world 
doomed  to  decay,  to  fly  with  her  to  that  brilliant  Jupiter 
which  awaited  them,  and  not  to  abandon  to  the  earth  the 
body  he  adored. 

He  thought  that,  perhaps,  there  still  existed,  somewhere 
upon  the  earth,  a  spot  which  had  retained  a  little  of  that 
life-giving  water  without  which  existence  was  impossible  ; 
and,  although  already  they  were  both  almost  without 
strength,  he  formed  the  supreme  resolution  of  setting  out 
to  seek  for  it.  The  electric  aeronef  was  still  in  working 
order.  Forsaking  the  city  which  was  now  only  a  tomb, 
the  two  last  survivors  of  a  vanished  humanity  abandoned 
these  inhospitable  regions  and  set  out  to  seek  some  un- 
known oasis. 

The  ancient  kingdoms  of  the  world  passed  under  their 
feet.  They  saw  the  remains  of  great  cities,  made  illus- 
trious by  the  splendors  of  civilization,  lying  in  ruins 
along  the  equator.  The  silence  of  death  covered  them 
all.  Omegar  recognized  the  ancient  city  which  he  had 


OMEGA.  263 

recently  left,  but  he  knew  that  there,  also  the  supreme 
source  of  life  was  lacking,  and  they  did  not  stop.  They 
traversed  thus,  in  their  solitary  air-ship,  the  regions 
which  had  witnessed  the  last  stages  of  the  life  of  human- 
ity ;  but  death,  and  silence,  and  the  frozen  desert  was 
everywhere.  No  more  fields,  no  more  vegetation  ;  the 
watercourses  were  visible  as  on  a  map,  and  it  was  evi- 
dent that  along  their  banks  life  had  been  prolonged ;  but 
they  were  now  dried  up  forever.  And  when,  at  times, 
some  motionless  lake  was  distinguished  in  the  lower  level, 
it  was  like  a  lake  of  stone  ;  for  even  at  the  equator  the 
sun  was  powerless  to  melt  the  eternal  ice.  A  kind  of 
bear,  with  long  fur,  was  still  to  be  seen  wandering  over 
the  frozen  earth,  seeking  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks 
its  scanty  vegetable  food.  From  time  to  time,  also, 
they  descried  a  kind  of  penguin  and  sea-cows  walking 
upon  the  ice,  and  large,  gray  polar  birds  in  awkward 
flight,  or  alighting  mournfully. 

Nowhere  was  the  sought-for  oasis  found.  The  earth 
was  indeed  dead. 

Night  came.  Not  a  cloud  obscured  the  sky.  A 
warmer  current  from  the  south  had  carried  them  over 
what  was  formerly  Africa,  now  a  frozen  waste.  The 
mechanism  of  the  aeronef  had  ceased  to  work.  Ex- 
hausted by  cold  rather  than  by  hunger,  they  threw 
themselves  upon  the  bear-skins  in  the  bottom  of  the 
car. 


OMEGA  . 


m 


By  O.  Guillonnet. 

"  A   WHITE   SHADOW   STOPPED   BEFOKE  THEIR   ASTONISHED   EYES." 


OMEGA.  265 

Perceiving  a  ruin,  they  alighted.  It  was  an  immense 
quadrangular  base,  revealing  traces  of  an  enormous  stone 
stairway.  It  was  still  possible  to  recognize  one  of  the 
ancient  Egyptian  pyramids  which,  in  the  middle  of  the 
desert,  survived  the  civilization  which  it  represented. 
With  all  Egypt,  Nubia  and  Abyssinia,  it  had  sunk  below 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  had  afterwards  emerged  into  the 
light  and  been  restored  in  the  heart  of  a  new  capital  by  a 
new  civilization,  more  brilliant  than  that  of  Thebes  and 
of  Memphis,  and  finally  had  been  again  abandoned  to  the 
desert.  It  was  the  only  remaining  monument  of  the  earl- 
ier life  of  humanity,  and  owed  its  stability  to  its  geometric 
form. 

"  Let  us  rest  here,"  said  Eva,  "  since  we  are  doomed  to 
die.  Who,  indeed,  has  escaped  death  ?  Let  me  die  in 
peace  in  your  arms." 

They  sought  a  corner  of  the  ruin  and  sat  down  beside 
each  other,  face  to  face  with  the  silent  desert.  The  young 
girl  cowered  upon  the  ground,  pressing  her  husband  in 
her  arms,  still  striving  with  all  her  might  against  the 
penetrating  cold.  He  drew  her  to  his  heart,  and  warmed 
her  with  his  kisses. 

"  I  love  you,  and  I  am  dying,"  she  said.  "  But,  no,  we 
will  not  die.  See  that  star,  which  calls  us  !  " 

At  the  same  moment  they  heard  behind  them  a  slight 
noise,  issuing  from  the  ancient  tomb  of  Cheops,  a  noise 
like  that  the  wind  makes  in  the  leaves.  Shuddering,  they 


266  OMEGA. 

turned,  together,  in  the  direction  whence  the  sound  came. 
A  white  shadow,  which  seemed  to  be  self-luminous,  for 
the  night  was  already  dark  and  there  was  no  moon,  glided 
rather  than  walked  toward  them,  and  stopped  before  their 
astonished  eyes. 

"  Fear  nothing,"  it  said.  u  I  come  to  seek  you.  No, 
you  shall  not  die.  No  one  has  ever  died.  Time  flows 
into  eternity  ;  eternity  remains. 

"  I  was  Cheops,  King  of  Egypt,  and  I  reigned  over  this 
country  in  the  early  days  of  the  world.  As  a  slave,  I  have 
since  expiated  my  crimes  in  many  existences,  and  when  at 
length  my  soul  deserved  immortality  I  lived  upon  Nep- 
tune, Ganymede,  Rhea,  Titan,  Saturn,  Mars,  and  other 
worlds  as  yet  unknown  to  you.  Jupiter  is  now  my  home. 
In  the  days  of  humanity's  greatness,  Jupiter  was  not  habit- 
able for  intelligent  beings.  It  was  passing  through  the 
necessary  stages  of  preparation.  Now  this  immense  world 
is  the  heir  to  all  human  achievement.  Worlds  succeed 
each  other  in  time  as  in  space.  All  is  eternal,  and  merges 
into  the  divine.  Confide  in  me,  and  follow  me." 

And  as  the  old  Pharaoh  was  still  speaking,  they  felt  a 
delicious  fluid  penetrate  their  souls,  as  sometimes  the  ear 
is  filled  with  an  exquisite  melody.  A  sense  of  calm  and 
transcendent  happiness  flowed  in  their  veins.  Never,  in 
any  dream,  in  any  ecstasy,  had  they  ever  experienced  such 
joy. 

Eva  pressed  Omegar  in  her  arms.     "  I  love  you,"  she 


OMEGA  . 


267 


By  O.  Guillonnet. 


THE  SPECTRE  ROSE  INTO  SPACE. 


268 


OMEGA  . 


repeated.  Her  voice  was  only  a  breath.  He  touched  his 
lips  to  her  already  cold  mouth,  and  heard  them  murmur  : 
"  How  I  could  have  loved  !  " 

Jupiter  was  shining  majestically  above  them,  and  in  the 
glorious  light  of  his  rays  their  sight  grew  dim  and  their 
eyes  gently  closed. 

The  spectre  rose  into  space  and  vanished.  And  one  to 
whom  it  is  given  to  see,  not  with  the  bodily  eyes,  which 
perceive  only  material  vibrations,  but  with  the  eyes  of  the 
soul,  which  perceive  psychical  vibrations,  might  have  seen 
two  small  flames  shining  side  by  side,  united  by  a  com- 
mon attraction,  and  rising,  together  with  the  phantom, 
into  the  heavens. 


EPILOGUE. 


"And  the  angel  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven  and 
sware  by  Him  that  liveth  forever  and  ever  that  there 
should  be  time  no  longer."— Rev.  x.,  6. 


THE  earth  was  dead.     The  other 
planets  also  had  died  one  after  the 
other.     The  sun  was  extinguished. 
But  the  stars  still  shone;  there  were 
^_  still  suns  and  worlds. 

In  the  measureless  duration  of  eternity,  time,  an  essen- 
tially relative  conception,  is  determined  by  each  world,  and 
even  in  each  world  this  conception  is  dependent  upon  the 
consciousness  of  the  individual.  Each  world  measures  its 
own  duration.  The  year  of  the  earth  is  not  that  of  Nep- 
tune. The  latter  is  164  times  the  former,  and  yet  is  not 
longer  relatively  to  the  absolute.  There  is  no  common 
measure  between  time  and  eternity.  In  empty  space  there 
is  no  time,  no  years,  no  centuries ;  only  the  possibility  of  a 


270  OMEGA. 

measurement  of  time  which  becomes  real  the  moment  a 
revolving  world  appears.  Without  some  periodic  motion 
no  conception  whatever  of  time  is  possible. 

The  earth  no  longer  existed,  nor  her  celestial  com- 
panion, the  little  isle  of  Mars,  nor  the  beautiful  sphere 
of  Venus,  nor  the  colossal  world  of  Jupiter,  nor  the 
strange  universe  of  Saturn,  which  had  lost  its  rings, 
nor  the  slow-moving  Uranus  and  Neptune — not  even 
the  glorious  sun,  in  whose  fecundating  heat  these  man- 
sions of  the  heavens  had  basked  for  so  many  centuries. 
The  sun  was  a  dark  ball,  the  planets  also  ;  and  still 
this  invisible  system  sped  on  in  the  glacial  cold  of 
starry  space.  So  far  as  life  is  concerned,  all  these 
worlds  were  dead,  did  not  exist.  They  survived  their 
past  history  like  the  ruins  of  the  dead  cities  of  Assyria 
which  the  archaeologist  uncovers  in  the  desert,  moving 
on  their  way  in  darkness  through  the  invisible  and  the 
unknown. 

No  genius,  no  magician  could  recall  the  vanished 
past,  when  the  earth  floated  bathed  in  light,  with  its 
broad  green  fields  waking  to  the  morning  sun,  its  rivers 
winding  like  long  serpents  through  the  verdant  mead- 
ows, its  woods  alive  with  the  songs  of  birds,  its  forests 
filled  with  deep  and  mysterious  shadows,  its  seas  heav- 
ing with  the  tides  or  roaring  in  the  tempest,  its  moun- 
tain slopes  furrowed  with  rushing  streams  and  cascades, 
its  gardens  enameled  with  flowers,  its  nests  of  birds 


OMEGA,  271 

and  cradles  of  children,  and  its  toiling  population,  whose 
activity  had  transformed  it  and  who  lived  so  joyously 
a  life  perpetuated  by  the  delights  of  an  endless  love. 
All  this  happiness  seemed  eternal.  What  has  become 
of  those  mornings  and  evenings,  of  those  flowers  and 
those  lovers,  of  that  light  and  perfume,  of  those  har- 
monies and  joys,  of  those  beauties  and  dreams?  All 
is  dead,  has  disappeared  in  the  darkness  of  night. 

The  world  dead,  all  the  planets  dead,  the  sun  extin- 
guished. The  solar  system  annihilated,  time  itself  sus- 
pended. 

Time  lapses  into  eternity.  But  eternity  remains,  and 
time  is  born  again. 

Before  the  existence  of  the  earth,  throughout  an 
eternity,  suns  and  worlds  existed,  peopled  with  beings 
like  ourselves.  Millions  of  years  before  the  earth  was, 
they  were.  The  past  of  the  universe  has  been  as 
brilliant  as  the  present,  the  future  will  be  as  the  past, 
the  present  is  of  no  importance. 

In  examining  the  past  history  of  the  earth,  we  might 
go  back  to  a  time  when  our  planet  shone  in  space,  a 
veritable  sun,  appearing  as  Jupiter  and  Saturn  do  now, 
shrouded  in  a  dense  atmosphere  charged  with  warm 
vapors  ;  and  we  might  follow  all  its  transformations 
down  to  the  period  of  man.  We  have  seen  that  when 
its  heat  was  entirely  dissipated,  its  waters  absorbed,  the 
aqueous  vapor  of  its  atmosphere  gone,  and  this  atmos- 


272  OMEGA. 

phere  itself  more  or  less  absorbed,  our  planet  must  have 
presented  the  appearance  of  those  great  lunar  deserts 
seen  through  the  telescope  (with  certain  differences  due 
to  the  action  of  causes  peculiar  to  the  earth),  with  its 
final  geographical  configurations,  its  dried-up  shores  and 
water-courses,  a  planetary  corpse,  a  dead  and  frozen 
world.  It  still  bears,  however,  within  its  bosom  an 
unexpended  energy — that  of  its  motion  of  translation 
about  the  sun,  an  energy  which,  transformed  into  heat 
by  the  sudden  destruction  of  its  motion,  would  suffice 
to  melt  it  and  to  reduce  it,  in  part,  to  a  state  of 
vapor,  thus  inaugurating  a  new  epoch  ;  but  for  an 
instant  only,  for,  if  this  motion  of  translation  were 
destroyed,  the  earth  would  fall  into  the  sun  and  its 
independent  existence  would  come  to  an  end.  If  sud- 
denly arrested  it  would  move  in  a  straight  line  toward 
the  sun,  with  an,  increasing  velocity,  and  reach  the  sun 
in  sixty-five  days ;  were  its  motion  gradually  arrested, 
it  would  move  in  a  spiral,  to  be  swallowed  up,  at  last, 
in  the  central  luminary. 

The  entire  history  of  terrestrial  life  is  before  our 
eyes.  It  has  its  commencement  and  its  end ;  and  its 
duration,  however  many  the  centuries  which  compose  it, 
is  preceded  and  followed  by  eternity — is,  indeed,  but  a 
single  instant  lost  in  eternity. 

For  a  long  time  after  the  earth  had  ceased  to  be  the 
abode  of  life,  the  colossal  worlds  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn, 


OMEGA.  273 

passing  more  slowly  from  their  solar  to  their  planetary 
stage,  reigned  in  their  turn  among  the  planets,  with 
the  splendor  of  a  vitality  incomparably  superior  to  that 
of  our  earth.  But  they,  also,  waxed  old  and  descended 
into  the  night  of  the  tomb. 


Had  the  earth,  like  Jupiter,  for  example,  retained 
long  enough  the  elements  of  life,  death  would  have 
come  only  with  the  extinction  of  the  sun.  But  the 
length  of  the  life  of  a  world  is  proportional  to  its 
size  and  its  elements  of  vitality. 

The  solar  heat  is  due  to  two  principal  causes — the 
condensation  of  the  original  nebula,  and  the  fall  of 
meteorites.  According  to  the  best  established  calcula- 
tions of  thermodynamics,  the  former  has  produced  a 
quantity  of  heat  eighteen  million  times  greater  than 
that  which  the  sun  radiates  yearly,  supposing  the  orig- 
inal nebula  was  cold,  which  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  was  the  case.  It  is,  therefore,  certain  that  the 
solar  temperature  produced  by  this  condensation  far 
exceeded  the  above.  If  condensation  continues,  the 
radiation  of  heat  may  go  on  for  centuries  without  loss. 

The  heat  emitted  every  second  is  equal  to  that 
which  would  result  from  the  combustion  of  eleven 
quadrillions  six  hundred  thousand  milliards  of  tons  of 

18 


274 


OMEGA. 


coal  burning  at  once !  The  earth  intercepts  only  one 
five  hundredth  millionth  part  of  the  radiant  heat,  and 
this  one  five  hundredth  millionth  suffices  to  maintain 
all  terrestrial  life.  Of  sixty-seven  millions  of  light 
and  heat  rays  which  the  sun  radiates  into  space,  only 
one  is  received  and  utilized  by  the  planets. 

Well !     to    maintain     this     source  of   heat    it    is   only 
necessary  that  the  rate   of  condensation   should   be  such 


that  the  sun's 
decrease  seventy- 
year,  or  one  kilo- 
years.  This  con- 
gradual  that  it 
imperceptible, 
five  hundred 
required  to  re- 
by  one  single 
Even  if  the  sun 
gaseous  state,  its 


diameter  should 
seven  meters  a 
meter  in  thirteen 
traction  is  so 
would  be  wholly 
Nine  thousand 
years  would  be 
duce  the  diameter 
second  of  arc. 
be  actually  in  a 
temperature,  so 


far  from  growing  less,  or  even  remaining  stationary, 
would  increase  by  the  very  fact  of  contraction ;  for  if 
on  the  one  hand  the  temperature  of  a  gaseous  body 
falls  when  it  condenses,  on  the  other  hand  the  heat 
generated  by  contraction  is  more  than  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent a  fall  in  temperature,  and  the  amount  of  heat 
increases  until  a  liquid  state  is  reached.  The  sun  seems 
to  have  reached  this  stage. 


OMEGA.  275 

The  condensation  of  the  sun,  whose  density  is  only 
one-fourth  that  of  the  earth,  may  thus  of  itself  main- 
tain for  centuries,  at  least  for  ten  million  years,  the 
light  and  heat  of  this  brilliant  star.  But  we  have  just 
spoken  of  a  second  source  of  heat :  the  fall  of  meteor- 
ites. One  hundred  and  forty-six  million  meteorites  fall 
upon  the  earth  yearly.  A  vastly  greater  number  fall 
into  the  sun,  because  of  its  greater  attraction.  If  their 
mass  equals  about  the  one  hundredth  part  of  the  mass 
of  the  earth,  their  fall  would  suffice  to  maintain  the 
temperature, — not  by  their  combustion,  for  if  the  sun 
itself  was  being  consumed  it  would  not  have  lasted 
more  than  six  thousand  years,  but  by  the  sudden  trans- 
formation of  the  energy  of  motion  into  heat,  the  ve- 
locity of  impact  being  650,000  meters  per  second,  so 
great  is  the  solar  attraction. 

If  the  earth  should  fall  into  the  sun,  it  would  make 
good  for  ninety-five  years  the  actual  loss  of  solar  en- 
ergy ;  Venus  would  make  good  this  loss  for  eighty- 
four  years;  Mercury  for  seven;  Mars  for  thirteen;  Jup- 
iter for  32,254;  Saturn  for  9652;  Uranus  for  1610 ; 
and  Neptune  for  1890  years.  That  is  to  say,  the  fall 
of  all  the  planets  into  the  sun  would  produce  heat 
enough  to  maintain  the  present  rate  of  expenditure 
for  about  46,000  years. 

It  is  therefore  certain  that  the  fall  of  meteors  greatly 
lengthens  the  life  of  the  sun.  One  thirty-third  mill- 


276  OMEGA. 

ionth  of  the  solar  mass  added  each  year  would  com- 
pensate for  the  loss,  and  half  of  this  would  be  suffi- 
cient if  we  admit  that  condensation  shares  equally  with 
the  fall  of  meteorites  in  the  maintenance  of  solar  heat ; 
centuries  would  have  to  pass  before  any  acceleration 
of  the  planets'  velocities  would  be  apparent. 

Owing  to  these  two  causes  alone  we  may,  therefore, 
admit  a  future  for  the  sun  of  at  least  twenty  million  years  ; 
and  this  period  cannot  but  be  increased  by  other  unknown 
causes,  to  say  nothing  of  an  encounter  with  a  swarm  of 
meteorites. 

The  sun  therefore  was  the  last  living  member  of  the  sys- 
tem ;  the  last  animated  by  the  warmth  of  life. 

But  the  sun  also  went  out.  After  having  so  long  poured 
upon  his  celestial  children  his  vivifying  beams,  the  black 
spots  upon  his  surface  increased  in  number  and  in  extent, 
his  brilliant  photosphere  grew  dull,  and  his  hitherto  daz- 
zling surface  became  congealed.  An  enormous  red  ball 
took  the  place  of  the  dazzling  center  of  the  vanished  worlds. 

For  a  long  time  this  enormous  star  maintained  a  high 
surface  temperature,  and  a  sort  of  phosphorescent  atmos- 
phere ;  its  virgin  soil,  illumined  by  the  light  of  the  stars 
and  by  the  electric  influences  which  formed  a  kind  of  at- 
mosphere, gave  birth  to  a  marvelous  flora,  to  an  unknown 
fauna,  to  beings  differing  absolutely  in  organization  from 
those  who  had  succeeded  each  other  upon  the  worlds  of  its 
system. 


OMEGA.  277 

But  for  the  sun  also  the  end  came,  and  the  hour  sounded 
on  the  timepiece  of  destiny  when  the  whole  solar  system 
was  stricken  from  the  book  of  life.  And  one  after  another 
the  stars,  each  one  of  which  is  a  sun,  a  solar  system,  shared 
the  same  fate ;  yet  the  universe  continued  to  exist  as  it 
does  today. 


The  science  of  mathematics  tells  us  :  "  The  solar  system 
does  not  appear  to  possess  at  present  more  than  the  one 
four  hundred  and  fifty-fourth  part  of  the  transformable  en- 
ergy which  it  had  in  the  nebulous  state.  Although  this 
remainder  constitutes  a  fund  whose  magnitude  confounds 
our  imagination,  it  will  also  some  day  be  exhausted.  La- 
ter, the  transformation  will  be  complete  for  the  entire  uni- 
verse, resulting  in  a  general  equilibrium  of  temperature 
and  pressure. 

"  Energy  will  not  then  be  susceptible  of  transformation. 
This  does  not  mean  annihilation,  a  word  without  meaning, 
nor  does  it  mean  the  absence  of  motion,  properly  speak- 
ing, since  the  same  sum  of  energy  will  always  exist  in  the 
form  of  atomic  motion,  but  the  absence  of  all  sensible 
motion,  of  all  differentiation,  the  absolute  uniformity  of 
conditions,  that  is  to  say,  absolute  death." 

Such  is  the  present  statement  of  the  science  of  mathe- 
matics. 


278  OMEGA. 

Experiment  and  observation  prove  that  on  the  one  hand 
the  quantity  of  matter,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  quantity 
of  energy  also,  remains  constant,  whatever  the  change  in 
form  or  in  position  ;  but  they  also  show  that  the  universe 
tends  to  a  state  of  equilibrium,  a  condition  in  which  its 
heat  will  be  uniformly  distributed. 

The  heat  of  the  sun  and  of  all  the  stars  seems  to  be 
due  to  the  transformation  of  their  initial  energy  of  mo- 
tion, to  molecular  impacts ;  the  heat  thus  generated  is 
being  constantly  radiated  into  space,  and  this  radiation 
will  go  on  until  every  sun  is  cooled  down  to  the 
temperature  of  space  itself. 

If  we  admit  that  the  sciences  of  today,  mechanics, 
physics  and  mathematics,  are  trustworthy,  and  that 
the  laws  which  now  control  the  operations  of  nature 
and  of  reason  are  permanent,  this  must  be  the  fate  of 
the  universe. 

Far  from  being  eternal,  the  earth  on  which  we  live  has 
had  a  beginning.  In  eternity  a  hundred  million  years,  a 
thousand  million  years  or  centuries,  are  as  a  day.  There 
is  an  eternity  behind  us  and  before  us,  and  all  apparent 
duration  is  but  a  point.  A  scientific  investigation  of  na- 
ture and  acquaintance  with  its  laws  raises,  therefore,  the 
question  already  raised  by  the  theologians,  whether  Plato, 
Zoroaster,  Saint  Augustine,  Saint  Thomas  Aquinas,  or 
some  young  seminarist  who  has  just  taken  orders  :  "  What 
was  God  doing  before  the  creation  of  the  universe,  and 


OMEGA.  279 

what  will  he  do  after  its  end?"  Or,  under  a  less  anthro 
morphic  form,  since  God  is  unknowable  :  "  What  was  the 
condition  of  the  universe  prior  to  the  present  order  of 
things,  and  what  will  it  be  after  this  order  has  passed 
away  ?  " 

Note  that  the  question  is  the  same,  whether  we  admit  a 
personal  God,  reasoning  and  acting  toward  a  definite  end, 
or,  whether  we  deny  the  existence  of  any  spiritual  being, 
and  admit  only  the  existence  of  indestructible  atoms  and 
forces  representing  an  invariable  sum  of  energy. 

In  the  first  case,  why  should  God,  an  eternal  and 
uncreated  power,  remain  inactive  ?  Or,  having  remained 
inactive,  satisfied  with  the  absolute  infinity  of  his  na- 
ture which  nothing  could  augment,  why  did  he  change 
this  state  and  create  matter  and  force? 

The  theologian  may  reply  :  "  Because  it  was  his  good 
pleasure. "  But  philosophy  is  not  satisfied  with  this 
change  in  the  divine  purpose.  In  the  second  case,  since 
the  origin  of  the  present  condition  of  things  only  dates 
back  a  certain  time,  and  since  there  can  be  no  effect 
without  a  cause,  we  have  the  right  to  ask  what  was  the 
condition  of  things  anterior  to  the  formation  of  the 
present  universe. 

Although  energy  is  indestructible,  we  certainly  cannot 
deny  the  tendency  toward  its  universal  dissipation,  and 
this  must  lead  to  absolute  repose  and  death,  for  the  con- 
clusions of  mathematics  are  irresistible. 


z8o  OMEGA. 

Nevertheless,  we  do  not  concede  this. 

Why? 

Because  the  universe  is  not  a  definite  quantity. 


It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  limit  to  the  extension 
of  matter.  Limitless  space,  the  inexhaustible  source  of 
the  transformation  of  potential  energy  into  visible  motion, 
and  thence  into  heat  and  other  forces,  confronts  us,  and 
not  a  simple,  finished  piece  of  mechanism,  running  like  a 
clock  and  stopping  forever. 

The  future  of  the  universe  is  its  past.  If  the  universe 
were  to  have  had  an  end,  this  end  would  have  been  reached 
long  ago,  and  we  should  not  be  here  to  study  this 
problem. 

It  is  because  our  conceptions  are  finite,  that  things  have 
a  beginning  and  an  end.  We  cannot  conceive  of  an  abso- 
lutely endless  series  of  transformations,  either  in  the  future 
or  in  the  past,  nor  that  an  equally  endless  series  of  mate- 
rial combinations,  of  planets,  suns,  sun-systems,  milky 
ways,  stellar  universes,  can  succeed  each  other.  Never- 
theless, the  heavens  are  there  to  show  us  the  infinite. 
Nor  can  we  comprehend  any  better  the  infinity  of  space 
or  of  time  ;  yet  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  conceive  of  a 
limit  to  either,  for  our  thought  overleaps  the  limit,  and  is 


OMEGA.  281 

impotent  to  conceive  of  bounds  beyond  which  there  is  no 
space  nor  time.  One  may  travel  forever,  in  any  direc- 
tion, without  reaching  a  boundary,  and  as  soon  as  anyone 
affirms  that  at  a  certain  moment  duration  ceases,  we  refuse 
our  assent ;  for  we  cannot  confound  time  with  the  human 
measures  of  it. 

These  measures  are  relative  and  arbitrary  ;  but  time 
itself  exists,  like  space,  independently  of  them.  Suppress 
everything,  space  and  time  would  still  remain  ;  that  is  to 
say,  space  which  material  things  may  occupy,  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  succession  of  events.  If  this  were  not  so, 
neither  space  nor  time  would  be  really  measurable,  not 
even  in  thought,  since  thought  would  not  exist.  But  it  is 
impossible  for  the  mind  even  to  suppress  either  the  one  or 
the  other.  Strictly  speaking,  it  is  neither  space  nor  time 
that  we  are  speaking  of,  but  infinity  and  eternity,  rela- 
tive to  which  every  measure,  however  great,  is  but  a 
point. 

We  do  not  comprehend  or  conceive  of  infinite  space  or 
time,  because  we  are  incapable  of  it.  But  this  incapacity 
does  not  invalidate  the  existence  of  the  absolute.  In  con- 
fessing that  we  do  not  comprehend  infinity,  we  feel  it 
about  us,  and  that  space,  as  bounded  by  a  wall  or  any 
barrier  whatever,  is  in  itself  an  absurd  idea.  And  we  are 
equally  incapable  of  denying  the  possibility  of  the  exist- 
ence, at  some  instant  of  time,  of  a  system  of  worlds  whose 
motions  would  measure  time  without  creating  it.  Do  our 


282 


OMEGA  , 


OMEGA.  283 

clocks  create  time  ?  No,  they  do  but  measure  it.  In  the 
presence  of  the  absolute,  our  measures  of  both  time  and 
space  vanish  ;  but  the  absolute  remains. 

We  live,  then,  in  the  infinite,  without  doubting  it  for 
an  instant.  The  hand  which  holds  this  pen  is  com- 
posed of  eternal  and  indestructible  elements,  and  the 
atoms  which  constituted  it  existed  in  the  solar  nebula 
whence  our  planet  came,  and  will  exist  forever.  Your 
lungs  breathe,  your  brains  think,  with  matter  and  forces 
which  acted  millions  of  years  ago  and  will  act  endlessly. 
And  the  little  globule  which  we  inhabit  floats,  not  at  the 
center  of  a  limited  universe,  but  in  the  depth  of  infinity, 
as  truly  as  does  the  most  distant  star  which  the  telescope 
can  discover. 

The  best  definition  of  the  universe  ever  given,  to  which 
there  was  nothing  to  add,  is  Pascal's,  "  A  sphere  whose 
center  is  everywhere  and  circumference  nowhere." 

It  is  this  infinity  which  assures  the  eternity  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

Stars,  systems,  myriads,  milliards,  universes  succeed 
each  other  without  end  in  every  direction. 

We  do  not  live  near  a  center  which  does  not  exist, 
and  the  earth,  like  the  farthest  star,  lies  in  the  fathom- 
less infinite. 

No  bounds  to  space.  Fly  in  thought  in  any  direction 
with  any  velocity  for  months,  years,  centuries,  forever, 
we  shall  meet  with  no  limit,  approach  no  boundary, 


284  OMEGA. 

we  shall  always  remain  in  the  vestibule  of  the  infinite 
before  us. 

No  bounds  to  time.  Live  in  imagination  through 
future  ages,  add  centuries  to  centuries,  epoch  to  epoch, 
we  shall  never  attain  the  end,  we  shall  always  remain  in 
the  vestibule  of  the  eternity  which  opens  before  us. 

In  our  little  sphere  of  terrestrial  observation  we  see 
that,  through  all  the  transformations  of  matter  and  mo- 
tion, the  same  quantity  of  each  remains,  though  under 
new  forms.  Living  beings  afford  a  perpetual  illustration 
of  this  :  they  are  born,  they  grow  by  appropriating  sub- 
stances from  the  world  without,  and  when  they  die  they 
break  up  and  restore  to  nature  the  elements  of  which  they 
are  composed.  But  by  a  law  whose  action  never  ceases 
other  bodies  are  constituted  from  these  same  elements. 
Every  star  may  be  likened  to  an  organized  being,  even  as 
regards  its  internal  heat.  A  body  is  alive  so  long  as  respi- 
ration and  the  circulation  of  the  blood  makes  it  possible 
for  the  various  organs  to  perform  their  functions.  When 
equilibrium  and  repose  are  reached,  death  follows ;  but 
after  death  all  the  substances  of  which  the  body  was 
formed  are  wrought  into  other  beings.  Dissolution  is 
the  prelude  to  recreation.  Analogy  leads  us  to  believe 
that  the  same  is  true  of  the  cosmos.  Nothing  can  be 
destroyed. 

There  is  an  incommensurable  Power,  which  we  are 
obliged  to  recognize  as  limitless  in  space  and  without  be- 


OMEGA.  285 

V 

ginning  or  end  in  time,  and  this  Power  is  that  which 
persists  through  all  the  changes  in  those  sensible  appear- 
ances under  which  the  universe  presents  itself  to  us. 

For  this  reason  there  will  always  be  suns  and  worlds, 
not  like  ours,  but  still  suns  and  worlds  succeeding  each 
other  through  all  eternity. 

And  for  us  this  visible  universe  can  only  be  the  chang- 
ing appearance  of  the  absolute  and  eternal  reality. 


It  is  in  virtue  of  this  transcendent  law  that,  long 
after  the  death  of  the  earth,  of  the  giant  planets  and  the 
central  luminary,  while  our  old  and  darkened  sun  was 
still  speeding  through  boundless  space,  with  its  dead 
worlds  on  which  terrestrial  and  planetary  life  had  once 
engaged  in  the  futile  struggle  for  daily  existence,  another 
extinct  sun,  issuing  from  the  depths  of  infinity,  collided 
obliquely  with  it  and  brought  it  to  rest ! 

Then  in  the  vast  night  of  space,  from  the  shock  of 
these  two  mighty  bodies  was  suddenly  kindled  a  stupen- 
dous conflagration,  and  an  immense  gaseous  nebula  was 
formed,  which  trembled  for  an  instant  like  a  flaring 
flame,  and  then  sped  on  into  regions  unknown.  Its  tem- 
perature was  several  million  degrees.  All  which  here 
below  had  been  earth,  water,  air,  minerals,  plants,  atoms; 
all  which  had  constituted  man,  his  flesh,  his  palpitating 


286  OMEGA. 

heart,  his  flashing  eye,  his  armed  hand,  his  thinking 
brain,  his  entrancing  beauty ;  the  victor  and  the  van- 
quished, the  executioner  and  his  victim,  and  those  in- 
ferior souls  still  wearing  the  fetters  of  matter, — all  were 
changed  into  fire.  And  so  with  the  worlds  of  Mars, 
Venus,  Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  the  rest.  It  was  the  resur- 
rection of  visible  nature.  But  those  superior  souls  which 
had  acquired  immortality  continued  to  live  forever  in 
the  hierarchy  of  the  invisible  psychic  universe.  The 
conscious  existence  of  mankind  had  attained  an  ideal 
state.  Mankind  had  passed  by  transmigration  through 
the  worlds  to  a  new  life  with  God,  and  freed  from  the 
burdens  of  matter,  soared  with  an  endless  progress  in 
eternal  light. 

The  immense  gaseous  nebula,  which  absorbed  all 
former  worlds,  thus  transformed  into  vapor,  began  to  turn 
upon  itself.  And  in  the  zones  of  condensation  of  this 
primordial  star-mist,  new  worlds  were  born,  as  heretofore 
the  earth  was. 

So  another  universe  began,  whose  genesis  some  future 
Moses  and  Laplace  would  tell,  a  new  creation,  extra- 
terrestrial, superhuman,  inexhaustible,  resembling  neither 
the  earth  nor  Mars,  nor  Saturn,  nor  the  sun. 

And  new  humanities  arose,  new  civilizations,  new  van- 
ities, another  Babylon,  another  Thebes,  another  Athens, 
another  Rome,  another  Paris,  new  palaces,  temples,  glories 
and  loves.  And  all  these  things  possessed  nothing  of 


OMEGA. 


287 


the  earth,  whose  very  memory  had  passed  away  like  a 
shadow. 

And  these  universes  passed  away  in  their  turn.  But 
infinite  space  remained,  peopled  with  worlds,  and  stars, 
and  souls,  and  suns  ;  and  time  went  on  forever. 

For  there  can  be  neither  end  nor  beginning. 


4        8540 


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